U.S., China try to reach accord on reducing greenhouse gas emissions

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke are in Beijing this week to talk about climate change with Chinese leaders. The hope is to open the nation's market to American clean technology products while nudging China toward committing to hard targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
They have their work cut out for them.
Although China is rapidly expanding its use of alternative energy to curb dependence on fossil fuels, it's favoring its own wind and solar manufacturers over foreign suppliers. And despite recently surpassing the United States as the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, China has stated repeatedly that the U.S. and other industrial powers must take the lead on cutting emissions.The issue is pitting industrial countries against the developing world over what role each should play in slowing potentially devastating global warming. At the Group of 8 summit meeting in Italy last week, China and other emerging powers declined to commit to specific goals for slashing heat-trapping gases by 2050. They said their rise from poverty shouldn't be derailed by the rich nations responsible for most of the damage.The participation of the U.S. and China is essential to building a global consensus heading into next year's United Nations conference on climate change. Any accord that doesn't include these two polluting superpowers would largely be considered a failure. But carbon caps are proving a point of friction between the trading partners.
"The United States and China have developed a very strong, advantageous relationship because of the economy, and by and large, it's been mutually beneficial," said Dan Dudek, chief economist for the Environmental Defense Fund. "But when it comes to climate change and energy, that simple equation starts to break down. What they're looking for now is a path to similar interests."Obama administration officials, and the president himself, are peddling cautious optimism in Washington about Chinese efforts on global warming. In an interview with energy reporters late last month, Obama sounded a cooperative tone about working with China and India to reduce emissions."We're going to be able to take a look at what they're doing," he said, "and to the extent that they are taking steps within their own economies to make progress, I think we're going to be able to help leverage even greater gains internationally."The mood is decidedly more combative on Capitol Hill, particularly among Republicans, many of whom insist that China must act aggressively on emissions before the U.S. will.China's response to climate change has been "complex and contradictory," Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), one of the few GOP senators that Democrats believe could eventually support a climate bill, said at a committee hearing last month.He added: "The American domestic debate on the issue will be profoundly influenced by perceptions of China's willingness to set aside doctrinaire positions and agree to verifiable steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions."China is in the throes of massive urbanization that will add 350 million residents to its cities in the next 20 years -- a migration of rural dwellers that will require dramatic increases in energy capacity. Those new urbanites will want access to air conditioning, cars and electronics that developed nations have long enjoyed. "Why can't these people have the same rights as Americans?" said Hu Tao, program coordinator of the United Nations China Climate Change Partnership Framework. "With a cap [on emissions], that means in the future we won't have the right to use these things. That's not realistic."Recognizing the growing environmental crisis, Beijing has launched its own set of domestic policies to reduce pollution while resisting international accords on emissions that they believe will interfere with determining their own destiny.Beijing has committed $462 billion to scaling up renewable energy by 2020. China has increased wind power by 100% each of the last three years. And although still modest in scope, China plans to boost solar power capacity tenfold in the next decade. Meanwhile, smaller and more inefficient coal plants are being phased out.China's wind farms can be seen in the far-flung West on the outskirts of desert cities such as Urumqi. Towering turbines are also being installed offshore near Shanghai. And China boasts millions of inexpensive, solar-powered household water heaters. The nation is the world's top producer of solar photovoltaic panels, although 95% of them are exported.But China remains highly dependent on dirty coal, building coal-fired power plants at a breakneck pace. Some of China's chief polluters ignore laws to use clean technology because it's cheaper to pay a fine. Still, China considers its efforts to battle climate change superior to those of the U.S., which did not sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and awaits a vote by the U.S. Senate on the Waxman-Markey climate bill."In the past eight years the U.S. has done nothing to contribute to [combating] climate change," said Jin Jiaman, executive director of the Global Environmental Institute, a Beijing-based nonprofit. "They should try to compensate now."Secretaries Chu and Locke plan to lay the framework for greater cooperation leading up to President Obama's visit to China later this year. The two men of ethnic Chinese backgrounds are well regarded here; Chu for his Nobel Prize in physics and Locke for his family, which is celebrated in its ancestral home of Taishan in Southern China as an immigrant success story.
Chu addressed a packed audience this morning at his parents' alma mater, Tsinghua University. "What China and the U.S. do in the future in large part will determine the fate of the world," he said.


Chu said he respected the argument that developed nations were responsible for most emissions to date. But he said that if China continued on its path, in 30 years it would have equaled all the carbon pollution the U.S. has ever released."We're all in this together," he said.Among the topics Chu and Locke are expected to discuss with their Chinese counterparts is technology transfer. The U.S. relies on coal for 22% of its energy needs and has know-how in carbon capture that would benefit the Chinese.
"This is a rapid and dynamic area where there are huge opportunities for both sides," said Qi Ye, head of the Energy Foundation's Beijing office. "Putting roadblocks [in transfers] is not going to help."The Chinese bristled at a stipulation in a recent U.S. climate bill that calls for tariffs on green exports from nations that fail to sign emission caps. It's been interpreted in Beijing as a way to restrict Chinese imports and protect American manufacturers and jobs at a time when both have been gravely affected by the economic crisis.China wants industrialized nations to reduce their emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020. By comparison, the bill still to be decided in Washington calls for a 4% reduction over the same period. Any agreement on short-term and mid-term targets between the two sides may have to meet closer to the middle, observers say.The Environmental Defense Fund's Dudek said that, despite the modest targets in the U.S. bill, the Chinese would welcome its passage and consider it a sign that the U.S. would lead the pair out of their impasse."It's hard to come to the table and talk tough with the Chinese when we don't have national controls or legislation on the books," Dudek said.

EU teams up with MTV on climate change

The European Union is teaming up with music channel MTV to raise awareness among teens about the dangers of climate change.
EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas says today's youth "will bear the brunt" of climate change, including rising temperatures and sea-levels.
The EU plans ads to air in 11 EU countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Denmark. Denmark is hosting the U.N. climate change conference aimed a getting a new global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The music channel will also hold special climate change concerts in Stockholm, Budapest and Copenhagen in the run-up to the U.N. conference, which starts Dec. 7.
The campaign's Web site, http://www.mtvplay4climate.eu was launched Wednesday

Global warming may vanish key salt marsh constituent

A new research has shown that global warming may exact a toll on salt marshes in New England, with one key constituent of marshes being especially endangered. Pannes are waterlogged, low-oxygen zones of salt marshes. According to Keryn Gedan, a graduate student and salt marsh expert at Brown University, despite the stresses associated with global warming, pannes are “plant diversity hotspots,” “At least a dozen species of plants known as forbs inhabit these natural depressions,” Gedan said. The species include the purple flower-tipped plants Limonium nashii (sea lavender), the edible plant Salicornia europaea (pickleweed) and Triglochin maritima, a popular food for Brent and Canada geese as well as ducks and other migratory waterfowl. Gedan and her adviser, Mark Bertness, chair of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at Brown, decided to find out how global warming may affect pannes. In a series of experiments, the pair subjected plots of forb pannes to air as much as 3.3 degrees Celsius (about 6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the surrounding area. They found that the plants in the test plots responded initially by growing more but then began a rapid die-off. As they died, they were replaced by a salt marsh grass, Spartina patens. At two sites — Nag Creek (Prudence Island, Rhode Island), and Little River (Maine) — the forbs covered less than 10 percent of the plot, from 50 percent originally, in tests that spanned the summer from 2004 to 2006. At the third site, Drakes Island (Maine), the forb pannes cover decreased from 50 percent of the plot to 44 percent (a 12-percent decline) in just the summer of 2007. The researchers believe the forbs disappeared due to changes in the plant-water balance in the zone. What that means, Gedan explained, is the warmer air causes the forbs to take in more water, thus making the area less waterlogged and more hospitable to an invasion by Spartina patens, which prefers less water-soaked conditions. “The forbs basically engineer themselves out of their habitat by making it more favourable for their competitor,” said Gedan. The Brown experiments “demonstrate that New England salt marsh pannes are extremely sensitive to temperature increases and will be driven to local and regional extinction with the temperature increases expected to occur in New England over the next century,” Bertness said.

Crocodile lay eggs without mating

The country's only captive white crocodile, which had become famous for shunning mating habits, has laid eggs and that too without mating. Living in isolation and detached from males, the 33-year-old Gori laid about 30 eggs in the captivity of a pen in the crocodile research farm of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary here. The eggs however lacked fertility contents and potency for procreation, officials said, adding that besides Gori another captive female crocodile also laid 'infertile' eggs last week. "Laying of eggs by isolated reptiles is a rare occurrence. The eggs have been preserved for research work," the officials said. Gori, acclaimed as the country's lone captive white crocodile, is famous for its typical behavioural instinct. In isolation since its birth in the sanctuary in 1975, the animal had avoided mating despite several attempts by forest officials. It had even attacked a male crocodile that had been released into the pen for mating. The enigmatic Gori has been keeping bad health since the past few years

US ecological award for Indian organisations

The Sierra Club, the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organisation in the US, has announced the winners of its first ever “Green Energy
& Green Livelihoods Achievement Award” for India. Two organisations share the award – Ecosphere Spiti from the mountainous Himachal Pradesh valley named Spiti in the trans-Himalayas, and Barefoot College in Rajasthan, led by social entrepreneur Bunker Roy. The only fully solar-electrified institution, Barefoot College has trained rural men and women as Barefoot Solar Engineers (BSEs). They have built and installed solar units in 10,000 households, covering 574 villages across 16 Indian states. Each award carries a prize money of Rs 20 lakh and a trophy to be presented at the awards ceremony in Mumbai on July 30. The award represents Sierra Club’s growing interest in building international partnerships to address climate change mitigation and adaptation. The award recognizes community initiatives to promote green economic development, adaptation of renewable energy alternatives and organizational leadership in a grassroots environmental campaign. Ecosphere Spiti has won the award for successfully creating sustainable livelihoods linked to conservation and eco-tourism, while Barefoot College has applied practical, traditional knowledge and community-owned sustainable technology to reach the poorest residents of the impoverished desert state. Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope said, “We set out on this path more than a century ago by promoting conservation awareness through mountain outings in the United States. We are delighted to recognise Ecosphere Spiti because it so clearly shares our own ideals for protecting a nation’s cultural and natural heritage for future generations.” Sierra Club International Programs director Stephen Mills had equally effusive praise for the Barefoot College: “As much as we are interested in sharing resources and supporting environmental leadership in India, we have also come to listen and learn,” Mills said. “We believe that much of the important energy and environmental work happening now in India has exciting applications in the US. Bunker Roy’s amazing record of teaching a community’s most disadvantaged members to become solar engineers is a prime example. We are not the first, and we will not be the last, to recognise this astonishingly scalable and replicable model for creating green livelihoods,” Mills added. Barefoot College is also the only fully solar-electrified college based in a village in India. Starting in 1989, barefoot solar engineers have installed a total of 40 kilowatts of solar panes and five battery banks, each containing 136 deep-cycle batteries. The solar components (inverters, charge controllers, battery boxes, stands) were all fabricated in the college itself. “We are delighted, honored and humbled by this award,” said Bunker Roy. “The recognition is to Mahatma Gandhi, ‘The Last Man’ who has shown the simple way of how to respect the Earth.”

Massive sea erosion in Karna, Kerala and Tamil Nadu: Govt

Government on Wednesday said a massive sea erosion has taken place in the coastal belt of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu due to various reasons including mining of beach sand. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Water Resources Vincent H Pala said a massive sea erosion has taken place in the coastline of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. "As per information available from the states, a length of 249.56 kilometre coastline in Karnataka, 478.14 km in Kerala and 641 km in Tamil Nadu has been reported effected by sea erosion due to sea waves, winds, tides, storms, mining of beach sand etc," he said when asked about the reason. The Minister also informed the House that governments of these three states have submitted "some project proposals" for consideration under National Coastal Protection Project for External Assistance. "These have been examined and forwarded to Asian Development Bank (ADB) for consideration," he said. Asian Development Bank has considered the "Project Preparatory Technical Assistance" with a grant of USD one million for preparing a sustainable coastal protection and management projects which include the states of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, the Minister added. Bureau Report

Five-fold rise in frequency of 'intense' cyclones: Study

The frequency of "intense" cyclones in Arabian Sea has increased five-fold over a period of 12 years due to sea warming, according to a new study. "Global warming has resulted in disruption of natural decadal cycle in the sea surface temperature (SST) of Arabian Sea after 1995," a research study by Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) said. Due to this, there was a five-fold rise in frequency of intense cyclones between 1995 and 2007 when compared to the previous 25 years (1970-1995), the research paper said. The effects of this climate-shift are also perceptible over the adjacent landmass as it has led to warmer winters and decreased decadal monsoon rainfall, it said. "The Indian summer monsoon is driven by the land-ocean thermal contrast and a warmer ocean would weaken the summer monsoon," NIO's Prasanna, who contributed significantly to the research, said. "Hence, the negative decadal anomaly in the all-India summer monsoon rainfall during the late 1990s appears to be linked to weakening of land-ocean thermal-gradient under the secular warming of the Arabian Sea," he added. The study points out that it is not just the frequency but also the intensity of cyclones that has increased in the recent years.