Climate Change

A House Energy subcommittee held one last hearing on climate science before GOP deniers take over the gavels. It was quite a show.

"The devastating effects of climate change and conflicts fought over ever-scarcer resources such as water could cause a surge in migration that experts fear the world is totally unprepared for."

"Approximately 13 million metric tons of rare earth elements (REE) exist within known deposits in the United States, according to the first-ever nationwide estimate of these elements by the U.S. Geological Survey."

"The Obama Administration has ignored wrenching climate impacts such as ocean acidification in its effort to estimate the cost of carbon emissions, making emissions limits disproportionately expensive, economists say."

"Almost 200 nations meet in Mexico this month to try to agree a "green fund" for poor countries and other steps toward an elusive climate treaty amid warnings that inaction is driving up the costs of tackling global warming."

"States with coastal water that is becoming more acidic because of carbon dioxide should list them as impaired under the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Agency said."

"At least one energy measure will see congressional action this week, and a handful of hopeful Senate Democrats have lofty plans to cut through the partisan gridlock of recent months to move several climate and energy bills by year's end."

"Not only is Earth's surface warming, but the troposphere -- the lowest level of the atmosphere, where weather occurs -- is heating up too, U.S. and British meteorologists reported on Monday." The findings may put to rest a 20-year-old controversy over differences between satellite and surface measurements of warming.

"At the Seoul G-20 Summit [Friday], leaders of the world's 19 most industrialized nations and the EU said they have made 'substantial progress' toward phasing out fossil fuel subsidies in the 14 months since their decision to do so at last year's G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."