e360 Video Report

Colorado River: Running Near Empty

Photographer Pete McBride traveled along the Colorado River from its source high in the Rockies to its historic mouth at the Sea of Cortez. In a Yale Environment 360 video, he documents how increasing water demands have transformed the river that is the lifeblood for an arid Southwest.
Watch the video

05 Oct 2011: European Commission Could Ban
Oil From Tar Sands and Other ‘Dirty’ Sources

The European Union says crude oil extracted from Alberta’s tar sands should be ranked as a dirtier fuel source than oil tapped from conventional oil wells, a move that could effectively ban the import of the controversial oil. The European Commission endorsed a measure that would essentially rate fossil fuels based on the CO2 emited during extraction, refining, and combustion. The EU has proposed that tar sands oil be ascribed a greenhouse gas value of 107 grams per megajoule of fuel, compared with 87.5 grams for ordinary crude oil. “With this measure, we are sending a clear signal to fossil fuel suppliers,” said Connie Hedegaard, the EU's climate change commissioner. “As fossil fuels will be a reality in the foreseeable future, it’s important to give them the right value.” Such a ratings system may eventually be applied to natural gas extracted from shale oil formations. The exploitation of Alberta’s tar sands has generated increasing protest from environmental groups. In addition to destroying large swaths of forest, the extraction and processing of the sludgy bituminous material typically requires more energy and water than conventional production. Canadian officials and petroleum industry leaders vowed to fight the measure, calling it a “stigmatization” of a fuel source found only in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

05 Oct 2011: China’s CO2 Emissions Growth
Mainly Driven By Construction, Study Says

A new study says the explosive growth in China’s construction sector is now driving the country’s steep increase in carbon emissions, reversing a long-term trend in which consumption and exports were the dominant factors. According to the study, published in journal Environmental Science & Technology, increased capital investment in infrastructure projects has fueled an expansion of the energy-intensive construction industry in recent years. Until 2002, the most critical factor driving Chinese CO2 emissions was the growth of consumption and factory production for exports, said Jan C. Minx of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and lead author of the study. From 2002 to 2007, however, researchers found that improved energy efficiency actually offset the rise in emissions from increased consumption. But emissions continued to skyrocket during that period — with the average annual CO2 emissions growth rivaling the UK’s total CO2 emissions— largely because of growth in the construction sector and related energy-intensive products such as steel and concrete. “Emissions grow faster and faster because CO2 intensive sectors linked to the building of infrastructure have become more and more dominant,” Minx said.

04 Oct 2011: Panel in U.S. Urges Research
Into Climate Geoengineering Options

A bipartisan panel of scientists, former government officials, and energy experts is urging the U.S. government to explore the potential benefits, costs, and risks of geoengineering schemes to slow global warming. In a new report, the 18-member panel convened by the Washington, D.C.-based Bipartisan Policy Center concedes that the use of technology to slow or reverse global warming — such as scattering light-reflecting aerosols into the atmosphere or seeding the oceans with iron to trigger CO2-absorbing algae blooms — is “no substitute” for cutting carbon dioxide emissions. But with the failure of the U.S. and the international community to take meaningful measures to reduce CO2 emissions, the panel recommends that the U.S. government should begin researching and testing alternatives in case the Earth’s climate system reaches a “tipping point” and immediate remedial action is required. “The federal government is the only entity that has the incentive, responsibility, and capacity to run a broad, systematic, and effective program,” the report says. “It can also play an important role in effectively establishing international research norms.”

Interview: Finding Common Ground
In the Contentious Climate Debate

Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, of Texas Tech University, is well known not only for her scientific work on the regional impacts of global warming in the U.S., but also for her efforts to reach out to conservative communities — particularly evangelical Christians — to speak with them about the realities of climate change. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Hayhoe discusses what rising temperatures will mean for the U.S., how to talk with climate skeptics, and what she would say to Texas Gov. Rick Perry to prod him into action on global warming. “Who doesn’t want renewable sources of energy?” said Hayhoe. “Who doesn’t want cleaner air and a thriving economy? Who doesn’t agree that we should be conservative with what we have? I think this is the way to move forward on this issue.”
Read the interview

04 Oct 2011: Pacific Nation Creates
World’s Largest Shark Sanctuary

The Marshall Islands, a small archipelago nation in the Pacific Ocean, has established what will become the world’s largest shark sanctuary, banning commercial shark fishing across 750,000 square miles of ocean — an area eight times as large as the UK — and outlawing the trade in shark products. In addition to a ban on shark fishing, the legislation bans the use of certain fishing gear in national waters. Government leaders say protection of sharks and rays is critical to the small nation’s tourism-driven economy. “There is no greater statement we can make about the importance of sharks to our culture, environment and economy,” said Senator Tony deBrum, a member of the Marshall Islands parliament and co-sponsor of the legislation. The Marshall Islands follow Palau, which established a nationwide shark sanctuary in 2009. Scientists say that more than a third of the world’s 1,044 shark species are threatened with extinction, with millions of sharks slaughtered annually to feed a thriving global market for their fins, used in shark fin soup. The new protected zone expands the total area worldwide where sharks are protected from 2.7 million square kilometers to 4.6 million square kilometers.

03 Oct 2011: E-Mails Reflect U.S. Bias
In Favor of Tar Sands Pipeline, Group Says

Environmental groups say newly released e-mails between U.S. State Department officials and a lobbyist for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline reveal a disturbing level of “complicity” and a bias by the regulators who will soon decide the fate of the project. The e-mails, the second batch to be obtained by the group Friends of the Earth through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal at times an almost collaborative relationship between Marja D. Verloop, an energy and environment counselor for the State Department, and Paul Elliott, a lobbyist representing TransCanada, the company looking to build the 1,800-mile pipeline that would deliver crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast. In one exchange, Verloop congratulates Elliott over a recent project endorsement by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana). “Go Paul!” she wrote. “Baucus support holds clout.” Damon Moglen, director of climate and energy projects for Friends of the Earth, said the e-mails suggest that the agency sees itself as “a facilitator of TransCanada’s plans.” The State Department, which will have final approval of the pipeline, said in August that the project would have “limited adverse environmental effects” if operated according to regulations.

More e360 digest