New Year Usher End In New Laws

The State of Connecticut has passed new legislation that will help its' residents save on energy. Among them are:

1. Expanding a temporary state sales tax exemption for passenger cars that get at least 40 miles per gallon to all passenger trucks, vans and motorcycle with the same fuel efficiency. The exemption runs from Jan. 1 of this year to July 1, 2010.

2. Preparing a plan to encourage the use of biodiesel heating oil blends in state buildings and facilities.

3. Giving Northeast Utilities and United Illuminating Co., until Feb. 1 to submit a plan to build power generation plants that could be used during peak periods of electricity use. Private companies will also be allowed to submit proposals.

4. A new rebate program will be established for residential electric customers who replace their old air conditioners with ones that meet federal Energy Star efficiency standards. The rebates range from $25 to $100 for room air conditioners, depending on the cost, and at least $500 for residents who replace a central air unit.

Is Going 'Green' Part of your New Year's Resolution?

This is the time of year when we sit down and make our New Year's Resolution list. If you are serious about protecting the environment, why not add green living to your list.

You can fight global warming and trim your household expenses at the same time. Some measures require an investment upfront but will save you plenty of money over time. Here are a few ways to go green without spending a lot of gold:

* Compact fluorescent light bulbs: Changing 10 60-watt bulbs will save the average homeowner in California more than $373 over the life of the new bulbs and prevent more than 1,700 pounds of carbon emissions.

* Appliances: Energy-efficient appliances can save $80 a year for the average homeowner, who spends $1,900 on power bills. For example, a new Energy Star-rated refrigerator uses 40% less energy than a traditional one that was manufactured in 2001.

* Heating and air conditioning: A programmable thermostat set 8 degrees lower in winter and 4 degrees higher in summer for eight hours during the day and 10 hours at night will save the average homeowner $150 a year.

Why not give it a try. You can save money as well as help the environment.

Green Tax Breaks Will End On Dec. 31

If you're looking for last-minute green tax breaks, you better hurry.

This may be the last year to take advantage of credits related to energy-efficient home improvements because they expire at year-end.

The Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2005 allowed homeowners to take a one-time tax credit of up to $500 for doing things like installing new efficient windows, insulation and heating and cooling equipment in their homes.

But provisions to extend the credits were dropped from the energy bill during the deal-making that took place to get it signed into law by President Bush this month.

So now qualifying products must be purchased and installed by Dec. 31.

Hope For New Orleans

New Orleans could have been the city to showcase its eforts in being more environmentally friendly if not for the actions of Stan "Pampy" Barre. Take for example, the case of Parkland, Florida.

In Parkland, where the motto is "Environmentally Proud," the city plans next year to begin dispensing cash rebates to its 25,000 residents for being more environmentally friendly.

Residents who install low-flow toilets or shower heads will get $150. Replacing an old air conditioner with a more energy-efficient one brings $100. Buying a hybrid car? An additional $200 cash back. And the list goes on.

Based on an estimate of 1,000 residents participating in the rebate program during the first year, the city predicts it will cost up to $100,000.

Many states already offer similar rebates and incentives through tax breaks, loans and perks such as allowing hybrid-car drivers to use car pool lanes.

Once U.S. Attorney, Jim Letten, put all of the corrupt culprits away, maybe New Orleans can be the next city to roll out its' environmentally friendly plans.

Forstalling Efficiency

Is this what the New Orleans' grinch had in mind when he looted the contract?

At the international climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, this month, delegates from New Delhi resisted efforts by industrialized nations to set mandatory targets for reductions in carbon emissions, arguing that India's per-capita emissions are far lower than those of wealthier, developed countries. Countries with emerging economies have also argued that climate change goals should not be imposed at the cost of growth.

India's severe power shortages are already forcing some business owners to look for energy-efficient solutions -- both to cut costs and to remain globally competitive. In the past two years, the government has introduced energy-efficiency labels for some consumer goods and trained architects how to meet new, environmentally friendly building codes. The government has also mandated energy audits for large factories this year and is proposing tougher fuel economy standards.

Audits would have helped New Orleans from the Grinch.

Flat Screen TV's Jack Up Energy Prices

Prices for big-screen television sets are dropping, but the cost of home entertainment may still be headed up. That is because the fancy screens shoppers are lugging home this holiday season consume far more electricity than their old-school predecessors.

Consider that a 42-inch plasma set can consume more electricity than a full-sized refrigerator - even when that TV is used only a few hours a day. Powering a fancy TV and full-on entertainment system - with set-top boxes, game consoles, speakers, DVDs and digital video recorders - can add nearly $200 to a family's annual energy bill.

Most consumers aren't made aware of extra energy expenses when they are shopping for a TV. Energy Star tags, a government program that identifies the most energy-efficient models, won't begin flagging the greenest televisions, when turned on, until late next year. Today, Energy Star judges energy consumption only in standby mode, limiting its usefulness.

Global Warming May See Santa Claus In Shorts

If the most dire climate forecasts come true the tourism industry in Europe's far north, already feeling the effects of global warming, may find itself promoting a Santa in shorts and a camel-drawn sleigh.

Each year at the end of autumn, residents, shopkeepers, travel agencies, reindeer herders and even politicians in the Finnish Arctic town of Rovaniemi - home to Santa Claus' Village, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Finland - look to the skies in the hopes of a snowy winter.

Energy Efficiency Contract Thief Gets Temporary Reprieve

Stan "Pampy" Barre was granted a temporary reprieve, from the federal pen, during this holiday season. The ex-political operative and confidant of former New Orleans' mayor, Marc Morial is awaiting sentencing for his role in looting from a massive energy efficiency contract that was awarded during the final year of Morial's administration.

Mr. Barre is now scheduled to be sentenced in April. Let's hope he receive the sentence he so richly deserves.

Taming Climate Change Threat

Britain's National parks - enjoyed by 100 million visitors a year - must undergo a conservation revolution if they are to meet the challenges of climate change and the introduction of new farming practices.

This is the stark warning of leading environmentalist Adrian Phillips, who has warned the National Parks Societies that our most precious landscapes will have to adapt in the near future. Phillips wants planners to encourage small renewable energy projects, such as wind turbines, hydroelectric schemes and solar water heaters. He warned that new planning laws will have to be introduced to make new buildings carbon-neutral and the parks entirely so.

Washington - Global Warming & Theft

This is an excerpt from an editorial in the Seattle Times that peeked my curiosity. It got me to thinking that Washingtonians have a litttle more to worry about this holiday season.

They have Stan "Pampy" Barre, III lurking in their midst. Who knows if Stan "Pampy" Barre, III will go on another crime spree to possibly steal some child's XBox.

Outdoors economy demands governor's focus

If the recent record floods and droughts haven't gotten our attention, we are not paying attention.

As an avid angler and a proud grandfather, I am very concerned about the devastating effects that global warming could have on the region's treasured fishing heritage. On top of the enormous human toll, recent flooding scours out spawning nests and destroys critical river habitat for our wild salmon and steelhead.

Because the stakes are so high, I am closely watching the actions and decisions of the state Climate Advisory Team, which will soon release a draft report of recommendations.

I am looking to Gov. Christine Gregoire for strong leadership on this issue. She should be bold in addressing the issue of global warming as it impacts our economy and culture, including our sportfishing traditions.

To all parents in Washington State: Make sure you keep your homes and vehicles secure, this holiday season. You don't want Stan "Pampy" Barre, III stealing your kids' Xbox.

Protection for 'Ribbon Seals' Sought

The Center for Biological Diversity on Thursday filed a 91-page petition with the National Marine Fisheries Service seeking to list ribbon seals as threatened or endangered. The group says the classification is needed because sea ice is disappearing due to climate change brought on by humans.

The petition marks the center's second attempt to use the Endangered Species Act to force action on global warming. Within weeks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to list polar bears as threatened because of habitat loss from global warming.

World climate experts who made up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in February that global warming "very likely" is caused by human use of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.

EPA won't allow 17 States to set emission standards for cars

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday denied California and 16 other states the right to set their own standards for carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.

The E.P.A. administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, said the proposed California rules were pre-empted by federal authority and made moot by the energy bill signed into law by President Bush on Wednesday. Mr. Johnson said California had failed to make a compelling case that it needed authority to write its own standards for greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks to help curb global warming.

The 17 states — including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — had waited two years for the Bush administration to issue a ruling on an application to set stricter air quality standards than those adopted by the federal government. The decision, technically known as a Clean Air Act waiver, was the first time California was refused permission to impose its own pollution rules; the federal government had previously granted the state more than 50 waivers.

The new federal law will require automakers to meet a 35-mile-per-gallon fleetwide standard for cars and trucks sold in the United States by 2020. It does not address carbon dioxide emissions, but such emissions would be reduced as cars were forced to become more fuel efficient.

Twelve other states — New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — had proposed standards like California’s, and the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Utah said they would do the same.

If the waiver had been granted and the 16 other states had adopted the California standard, it would have covered at least half of all vehicles sold in the United States.

Bush signs Bill boosting Fuel Standards

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush signed into law Wednesday legislation that will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles into auto showrooms and require wider use of ethanol, calling it "a major step" toward energy independence and easing global warming.

The legislation signed by Bush at a ceremony at the Energy Department requires automakers to increase fuel efficiency by 40 percent to an industry average 35 miles per gallon by 2020. It also ramps up production of ethanol use to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022.

Bush said the new requirements will help "address our vulnerabilities and dependency" on foreign oil by reducing demand for gasoline and diversifying the nation's fuel supply.

Presidential Hopefuls Take on Global Warming

At their final face-off in Iowa last week, the three leading Democratic presidential candidates tried to outdo each other in describing their commitment to fight global warming.

Hillary Clinton wants to rally Americans on climate change the way they rallied behind the space program when she was a child.

John Edwards calls the fight against global warming a "moral responsibility" which demands leadership from a president who will draw on American patriotism for something other than war.

Barack Obama calls it a "moral imperative" to leave the planet clean for his two young girls.

But in the wake of the recent Bali climate summit are prospective successors to George W. Bush pledging to move quickly enough for the rest of the world? Or are they in line with the American electorate?

Energy Bill Sent to President Bush

In an overwhelming 314 to 100 vote, the House today passed historic energy legislation that raises fuel economy standards for the first time in 30 years, boosts energy efficiency standards, and requires a significant increase in biofuels production. The Senate approved the legislation late last week, and President Bush has indicated that he will sign the bill into law before the end of the year.

According to analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the bill's fuel economy and renewable fuel standards combined will save the country 2.3 million barrels of oil a day in 2020—more than what the United States currently imports from the Persian Gulf. The fuel economy provisions alone will create 149,300 jobs, and save consumers $22 billion at the pump every year starting in 2020, even after paying for the fuel-saving technology needed to meet the standards. In addition, the fuel economy standards will prevent more than 190 million metric tons of global warming emissions in 2020.

The San Francisco Sprint

San Francisco sprints towards use of tidal power today in the race to combat global warming.

Initially, tidal wave energy will produce enough power for 1,500 homes beginning in 2012, San Francisco based Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announces at 9:00 a.m. this morning.

The announcement is the latest move by PG&E to “aggressively add renewable energy to its power mix,” reported utility spokesmen.

PG&E currently supplies 12 percent of its energy from qualifying renewable sources under California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) program. |Read on|

Bali Talks Progress

From the outset, the major schism was between most developing countries and the US, which found itself in a spoiler role. In the final plenary session, challenged to "lead, follow or get out of the way", the US delegation was forced into last-minute concessions.

The meeting had barely closed when George W. Bush expressed "serious concerns", speaking of the "legitimate" right of every country to economic growth and a need for developing countries to take more responsibility for cutting emissions.

But there was progress. First, 188 nations agreed to continue talking, through a meeting in Poland next year leading up to Copenhagen late in 2009, where a successor to Kyoto is to be negotiated.

Global Warming Talks in Bali

During the global warming talks, in Bali, negotiators agreed to start two years of talks on a new climate deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the main deal for fighting climate change until 2012, to bind outsiders led by the United States, China and India.

The talks will start with a first meeting by April 2008 and end with adoption of a new treaty in Copenhagen in late 2009.

A U.S. U-turn allowed the deal to go ahead after a dramatic session in which Washington was booed for opposing demands by poor nations for the rich to do more to help them fight global warming.

Red Cross Weigh In On Global Warming Crises

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has pointed to the growing role of global warming in causing natural disasters.

The Swiss-based humanitarian agency made the comments as it published its World Disasters Report 2007, which this year focuses on tackling discrimination of women, people with disabilities and the elderly during catastrophes.

There were 427 disasters in 2006 compared with 433 in 2005. In the same period, the number of affected people dropped ten per cent, while the number of deaths plunged by 75 per cent to 23,833.

Disaster costs were estimated at $34.5 billion (SFr39 billion) for 2006, a much lower figure than in 2005 - $210 billion - the year of the devastating Hurricane Katrina.

However, the annual report also noted that more than two thirds of natural disasters last year were caused by floods or by extreme weather and pointed to global warming as the main factor.

UN Chief says gas cuts too ambitious

Guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions cuts opposed by the United States may be "too ambitious" to include in a final statement from the climate conference in Bali, the U.N. chief said Wednesday.

Drafts of the conference statement obtained by The Associated Press have included a call for industrialized countries to reduce emissions blamed for global warming by between 25 percent and 40 percent by 2020.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, however, said such goals might have to wait for subsequent negotiations, though he added that at some point targets for emissions cuts would be necessary.

"Realistically, it may be too ambitious" to set guidelines now, Ban told reporters, when asked about steadfast opposition by the United States, though he urged Washington to be flexible.

Later he added, "Practically speaking, this will have to be negotiated down the road."

Talks at the two-week U.N. climate conference, which wraps up Friday, intensified with the arrival of ministers and heads of state. Many leaders, in a series of speeches, urged the world to quickly impose deep cuts in emissions to head off scientific predictions of rising seas, worsening droughts and famines, and melting ice-sheets due to global warming. |Read on|

Al Gore - Climate missing from U.S. elections

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore said on Monday the U.S. presidential election campaign had paid insufficient attention to the environment and climate change.

Gore & IPCC to accept Nobel Peace Prize

Al Gore said the Nobel Peace Prize he accepts Monday already has helped draw the world's attention to global warming and he expressed optimism that growing public pressure would push governments to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

The former vice president shares the prize with the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which will be represented at Monday's award ceremony by its leader, Rajendra Pachauri.

A day before accepting the prize, Gore said reducing greenhouse gases was essential to fighting the ``planetary emergency'' of global warming. ``That phrase may sound shrill to some ears but it is accurate,'' he said. |Read more|

Poor Nations Must Help Stop Climate Change

Both rich and poor nations must commit to slashing greenhouse gas emissions if the world wants to solve global warming, Australia's trade minister said Saturday at a landmark climate change summit.

As the first week of the conference trying to lay the groundwork for a new climate change pact drew to a close, delegates in Indonesia's Bali appeared divided on the way forward to curb carbon dioxide emissions.

Japan and Canada are reported to be pushing for booming developing nations such as India and China -- set to become the world's major polluters -- to commit to binding cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming. |Read on|

Former Alaska Lawmaker Sentenced On Bribery Charges

Alaska's former state House speaker was sentenced to six years in federal prison Friday for accepting $9,000 in bribes from the founder of an oil field services company.

Pete Kott, a Republican who represented a suburb of Anchorage for 14 years, also was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick bumped up the prison term beyond sentencing guidelines after concluding that Kott had committed perjury during his trial. He also said the legislation Kott took bribes to influence -- a revised tax law on Alaska's principal industry, crude oil extraction -- affected every Alaskan.

"The amount of money was in the hundreds of millions, if not billions," Sedwick said.

Kott was convicted in September of bribery, extortion and conspiracy for his dealings with executives of VECO Corp., a major Alaska firm that performed maintenance, design and construction contracts for petroleum producers.

Besides the cash, federal prosecutors said Kott accepted a political poll paid on his behalf by VECO and that he received the promise of a job with the company after he left the Alaska legislature. The federal court jury acquitted him of wire fraud. |Read more|

Do You Feel Political Corruption Will Rise?

According to a recent survey, half of the public expect political corruption to rise. Those surveyed believe politicians are becoming more corrupt. They also believe that no one is doing anything to stop it.

The lobby group Transparency International interviewed more than 60,000 people worldwide, including 1,000 in Ireland, and found widespread cynicism on standards in public office.

Almost half of Irish people surveyed (47%) think corruption will get worse during the next three years, up to 15 percentage points more than in 2005.

In order to curtail political corruption, the government need to enact laws with substantial seizure of assets from their ill gotten gains. How do you think the government should handle corrupt political officials?

Bribery & Fraud - Societies Spreading Cancer

Bribery and fraud seems to be part of a growing cancer that spreads throughout society leaving us vulnerable to the culprits. I have previously concentrated on New Orleans' own cancer spreader, Stan "Pampy" Barre, who we will be soon rid of once he is sentenced to prison. His type of cancer is a prevailing one that keeps the feds on their toes.

Siemens is a German Company who has also come under the feds radar. The Federal Government recently suspended further dealings with Siemens as a result of allegations of accepting bribes from some senior Nigerian government officials for the purpose of winning contracts.

According to Mr. John Odey,Information and Communications Minister, a contract awarded to Siemens for the construction of 14 indoor control panels complete with circuit breaker for power generation has been cancelled as a result of the administrations zero tolerance for corruption. The cancelled contract was worth N128 million.

This sounds very similar to the Johnson Controls Energy savings contract that Stan "Pampy" Barre looted for his own personal gain. We will never understand the psyche of corrupt individuals since they lack morals and values.

EPIC Energy Launches GSM Enabled Remote Energy Management Systems

EPIC Energy Ltd has announce the successful testing and launch of its GSM enabled Remote Energy Management Systems (REMS), which will enable its customers to monitor the use and efficiency of energy consumption on a virtual real time basis.

Built on a GSM and GPRS platform, this REMS can seamlessly be integrated with existing Energy Equipments and Appliances. Trigger points built into the system enable automatic switching on and switching off of electrical appliances. The system also enables users to remotely manage electrical appliances. Deviations from set and standard parameters are reported instantly via SMS and / or a Central Server. The system also has a "pull" facility whereby facility is provided to get parameter values instantly by sending a secure SMS to the concerned system. Remote configuration of systems is also possible through the REMS.

With the launch of REMS, all products of Epic will be available with this option. REMS greatly enhances the ability of the consumer to effectively manage Energy Consumption. The incorporation of this facility will enable Epic to garner a larger share of the Energy Conservation market, both in the government and private sectors. Since Epic operates largely on a BOOT basis with its customers, and its revenues flow from actual energy saved by its customers, the incorporation of REMS will significantly improve the revenue share, based on higher savings made by its customers.

Why Do We Need A New Pact On Climate Change?

With the Kyoto protocol due to expire in 2012, a new international climate change deal must be put in place in time to ensure that necessary action is undertaken immediately.

The UN says that this year's scientific report from the its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has "made clear beyond doubt that climate change is a reality", which poses a serious threat to the future development of the world's economies, societies and ecosystems.

According to the IPCC, if no action is taken on greenhouse gases, the earth's temperature could rise by 4.5C or more.

The effects of climate change are being felt already, the panel says. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average and adverse effects on human activities are documented. Impacts of warming have also been observed in other regions and sectors, in particular on ecosystems.

As glaciers retreat, water supplies are being put at risk. And for populations living in dry lands, especially those in Africa, changing weather patterns threaten to exacerbate desertification, drought and food insecurity. Other regions are expected to suffer from floods, sea level rise and extreme weather events.

"We cannot go on this way for long," the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has said. "We cannot continue with business as usual. The time has come for decisive action on a global scale."

Actor Brad Pitt's 'Make It Right Project' Benefits New Orleans' Residents

STAFF PHOTO BY MATTHEW HINTON
Actor Brad Pitt near the corner of North Roman and Deslonde in the Lower 9th Ward, New Orleans.

Actor Brad Pitt's "Make It Right" project consist of building affordable, environmentally friendly, storm-safe houses for residents of the Lower 9th Ward on the same lots where their old homes once stood. In announcing the project in September at a meeting of world leaders on global warming, Pitt and philanthropist Steve Bingler pledged $5 million each to jump-start the project.

"This cannot be about me," he said Sunday from inside a trailer at the project site. "I am fortunate to have a big spotlight in my hand, and I can point it in a direction."

Today that place will be the section of the Lower 9th Ward best-known as the spot where a barge came to rest after floating through a fractured levee. Pitt is slated to lead news reporters on a tour around the area's conglomeration of pink art pieces, then to issue a public call to corporations, foundations and church organizations around the world to "adopt" the blocks, for $150,000 each, to support his project.

Donors also will be invited to make smaller gifts -- from $5 to $45,500 -- to sponsor the individual elements of the houses' eco-friendly designs, such as fluorescent bulbs, low-flush toilets and solar-panel installations. More information is available at the project's Web site, www.makeitrightnola.org.

With the average house slated to cost between $100,000 and $174,000, planners expect participants to contribute some money, including insurance and Road Home proceeds, toward construction. But they expect most homeowners will fall about $70,000 short of paying off their new homes. To fill the gap, Make It Right plans to offer forgivable loans of as much as $100,000, with the caveat that applicants must have owned a home or lot in the Lower 9th Ward before Katrina.

Nine other firms — all of whom donated their services — are involved, including Adjaye Associates; Billes Architecture; BNIM Architects; Constructs; Eskew & Dumez & Ripple; MVRDV; Pugh and Scarpa Architecture; Shigeru Ban Architects; and Trahan Architects. “We wanted to have a mixture of voices,” Mr. Pitt said.

The green building elements will reduce upkeep costs by at least 75 percent, Mr. Pitt said, and reduce some of the problems that devastated the Lower Ninth Ward during Katrina, when multiple levee breaks forced thousands of people from their homes.

Responding to critics who question the wisdom of rebuilding at all in an area likely to get hit again, Mr. Pitt said: “My first answer to that is, talk to the people who’ve lived there and have raised their kids there. People are needing to get back in their homes.”

Climate Change Conference To Begin

The UN climate change conference begins in Bali on Monday with officials and ministers from around the world set to start negotiations on a new international climate change deal.

Thousands of delegates are gathering on the Indonesian island with the hope a "roadmap" can be laid out for talks on a new agreement, which will come into force when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

The conference comes amid increasingly strong warnings from scientists and environmentalists that "catastrophic" climate change would result from inaction and concerns from aid agencies that the world's poor will be hardest and first hit.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, who will be participating in the talks, said climate change was the "greatest challenge the world faces".

Levee System Increased Hurricane Katrina's Wrath

Louisiana's levee system has once again made headlines. According to hurricane expert, Ivor van Heerden, the magnitude of Katrina's storm surge in Mississippi was partly the fault of the Louisiana levee system.

Van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, described how sea water from the storm built up against Mississippi River levees in Louisiana, and when the eye of Katrina passed over and began its migration to Mississippi, it took the wall of water with it.

Had there been no levee, he said, the water would have fanned over the wetlands, and the eye would have carried far less to local shores. Van Heerden is also a civil and environmental engineering professor at LSU.

Van Heerden is often credited with having predicted Katrina. In the years before the storm, he created computer models showing how New Orleans would flood if a category 3 storm hit. The levees were built based on outdated models, even though new ones were available. Some levee sections were built on sand, easily allowing water to breach.

"It was a man-made catastrophe with a hurricane trigger," he said. "What happens to sand castles on beaches? They don't last."

He said his research fell on deaf ears, as outlined in his book, The Storm - What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina - the Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist. He wants an inquest like the 9/11 commission to look into the failures that led to flooding in New Orleans and destruction along the Coast.

To protect Mississippi in the future from Katrina-like storms, he said, efforts must go toward restoring wetlands and rebuilding the barrier islands. Giant waves in the open ocean become smaller when they break over the islands.

Quiet Hurricane Season For New Orleans

New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast this year enjoyed a quiet hurricane season, which ends today, as dire predictions by federal and university forecasters turned out to be wrong for the second consecutive year.

That was good news to the Army Corps of Engineers, as its contractors continued to raise levees throughout the New Orleans area -- some to the heights and strengths they should have been before Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

The corps also completed engineering work and issued the first contracts to improve hurricane protection to match its new understanding of the storm surge caused by hurricanes with a 1 in 100 chance of hitting the area in a given year.

Of 14 named storms in 2007, only four hit the U.S. coastline, with only one reaching hurricane strength.

Climate Change Threatens Indonesia's Coral Reefs

Jakarta is a country with some of the world's richest coral reefs. But scientists fear many of Indonesia's psychedelic reefs, already significantly damaged by blast fishing and pollution, now face an even graver threat: global warming.

Over the years, rising sea temperatures have led to severe coral bleaching in some of the most spectacular reefs off the palm-fringed islands of Sulawesi and Bali that are home to exotic fish like the brightly colored clown fish and scorpion fish.

And environmentalists say if quick steps are not taken to stop the destruction, many reefs across the sprawling archipelago of about 17,000 islands could disappear in the next few decades.

The state of coral around the world will be part of the discussions at next month's UN climate talks on the Indonesian resort island Bali where about 190 countries will gather to try to hammer out a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, a global pact aimed at fighting global warming.

When Fuel and Politics Mix

As oil prices flirt with record highs, hovering around $95 a barrel on Tuesday, the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are offering few quick fixes but profoundly different long-term approaches to energy policy.

Over the next decade or two, the differences could have a major effect on billions of dollars in government spending, on the relative prices of gasoline versus renewable fuels and on the efficiency of American cars and trucks.

For Democrats, the goal of energy policy is largely about reducing oil consumption and has become inseparable from the goal of reducing the risk of climate change.

For the Republican candidates, energy policy is primarily about producing more energy at home — more oil and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; more use of American coal to produce liquid fuel; and, as with Democrats, more renewable fuels like ethanol.

China Says Other Nations Should Do More About Climate Change

Rich countries responsible for most of the world's greenhouse gas emissions should take the lead on climate change, a commentary in China's state media said on Tuesday, a week before the opening of global talks on the issue.

China is set to surpass the United States as the world's top emitter of carbon dioxide, the main gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, but has resisted pressure to agree to caps or specific targets on its emissions.

The commentary said that from the Industrial Revolution until the 1950s, the developed world was responsible for 95 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and accounted 77 percent of the world's total from 1950 to 2000.

Can Louisiana's Newly Elected Governor Rid The State Of Its' Ghost?

By promising an overhaul of Louisiana's ethics laws as his first act as governor, Bobby Jindal is joining a recent national trend that experts attribute to public revulsion at political scandals and a declining overall trust in government.

From Alaska to Ohio and points in between, states have been revising their ethics laws in recent years to improve transparency and put new restrictions on interactions between legislators and lobbyists.

Overall, 47 states have introduced bills or passed laws in the past two years making revisions to their ethics laws, according to the Center for Ethics in Government at the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least seven states have approved major overhauls, and reviews are under way in three others.

Jindal takes over a state government that has been relatively scandal-free in the past 12 years. Nevertheless, civic leaders say the state still suffers from the battering its image took during the Edwin Edwards years, and the guilt by association that occurs any time a New Orleans politician is brought down by legal problems.

Although Jindal often criticized the "old corrupt crowd" in Baton Rouge as a candidate, he has said that stronger ethics laws are a key to making Louisiana more attractive to outside companies and investors, who have said in recent surveys that the state's reputation for political corruption is a factor in deciding where to invest.

Businesses Leave New Orleans As A Result Of Its' Image

It is no surprise to me as well as other present and former New Orleanians that businesses are leaving New Orleans. I have given up hope that New Orleans will ever change its' image. Who wants to do business in a city where corruption runs rampant? Yes Katrina devastated New Orleans, but New Orleans had serious problems before the hurricane even struck the gulf coast. After reading the following, in the Times Picayune, yesterday, I cannot help but wonder how businesses will be recruited:

Intermarine is one in a long list of companies that -- citing concerns about infrastructure, corruption, crime, taxes and work force -- have shifted operations from the metro area. Katrina exacerbated those pre-existing issues.

Since 2005, the New Orleans area has lost nearly a dozen publicly traded companies. Among them is Ruth's Chris, which moved its headquarters to Orlando, Fla., after Hurricane Katrina devastated its Metairie headquarters and its local restaurants. Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold moved its headquarters to Phoenix. And International Shipholding Corp. moved its longtime Poydras Street headquarters to Mobile.

Still, business leaders are hopeful that the city will seize on what they believe is a unique opportunity to transform the way it retains and recruits businesses.

Perhaps less governmental interference is the answer as suggested by the following statement:

"Almost all major U.S. cities are controlled and directed by the business community. New Orleans is the only place I know of major size that government (officials) are the major players," Ricchiuti said. "It's a very odd town in that the business community doesn't call the shots here."

After all, it has been our elected officials who have done the most harm to New Orleans' reputation. Corruption is a crime. Who wants to do business in a City where they feel they have to grease some corrupt politician or his cronies hands in order to do business? Yes, Jim Letten has weeded out some corruption here, but I believe we will never ever really get the "big fish".

Greenhouse Gases Hit High Level In 2006

Two of the most important Greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere reached a record high in 2006, and measurements show that one — carbon dioxide — is playing an increasingly important role in global warming, the U.N. weather agency said Friday.

The global average concentrations of carbon dioxide, or CO2, and nitrous oxide, or N2O, in the atmosphere were higher than ever in measurements coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization, said Geir Braathen, a climate specialist at the Geneva-based agency.

Methane, the third of the three important greenhouse gases, remained stable between 2005 and 2006, he said.

Braathen said measurements show that CO2 is contributing more to global warming than previously.

Welch Scientists Gets Nobel Honor

A WELSH scientist who has described climate change as a “weapon of mass destruction” is to receive the Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice-President Al Gore, the Western Mail can reveal today.

Sir John Houghton will be part of a delegation from the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to receive the award next month.

The former head of the Met Office chaired the climate change panel between 1998 and 2002 and was the lead editor of its first three reports on global warming.

Mr Gore is sharing the award with the IPCC as recognition for his efforts in raising awareness of the problem through his documentary An Inconvenient Truth and other work. The Norweigian Nobel Committee recognised the IPCC’s work on global warming over the last two decades. The IPCC and Mr Gore will receive the award at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10.

Global Warming Threatens Tree Frogs

A HEAT-SEEKING frog with a remarkable ability to control its temperature may be protected from extinction by experts in Manchester.

Scientists believe global warming is behind a dramatic decline in Central America's tropical tree frogs - and their findings could help save dozens of other threatened species.

Costa Rican tree frogs live high above the ground and bask in the sun.

Manchester University scientists think they do this because the heat kills fungal infections, but global warming has created cloudy conditions in their habitat, leading to increased illness.

They are testing their theory on tree frogs held as part of a collection of amphibians at Manchester Museum.

Amphibian expert Andrew Gray said a scanner would examine the frogs' skin, which lets them regulate their temperature as well as change colors to camouflage themselves.

He said: "The imaging technique is non-invasive and does not harm the frogs."

A third of the world's 5,700 amphibians face extinction through global warming.
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It is astonishing to me that with all of the available information, concerning global warming and its effects on our planet, that an entire city would not be concerned about energy conservation. Like I have pointed out previously, an energy savings contract, under former New Orleans Mayor, Marc Morial was looted. His confidant, Stan "Pampy" Barre, was the ringleader who because of his own personal greed decided to use the City's coffers as his own personal ATM machine. It is inconceivable to realize that a person would be so cold and calculating as to deny the citizens of New Orleans to reap those benefits of the energy savings contract.

OPEC nations create clean tech fund

Members of OPEC announced today that they will contribute $750 million to a fund to study clean energy and technologies, according to Cleantech.com

The fund will put a particular emphasis on carbon capture and storage.

Saudi Arabia coughed up $300 million for the fund while Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates each pledged $150 million. Abu Dhabi, a member of the United Arab Emirates, already participates in a clean technology venture fund.

In a statement, OPEC (according to Cleantech.com) said it would "stress the importance of cleaner and more efficient petroleum technologies for the protection of the local, regional and global environment, and the importance of expediting the development of technologies that address climate change, such as carbon capture and storage."

Downed Trees Called Warming Factor

As if Hurricane Katrina’s effect on life and property along the Gulf Coast were not bad enough, researchers at Tulane University and the University of New Hampshire now say the storm may contribute to global warming.

The researchers point to the estimated 320 million large trees that were killed or severely damaged by Katrina.

Jeffrey Chambers, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Tulane, says young, healthy forests are important in the battle against warming because they remove carbon — in the form of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas — from the atmosphere by photosynthesis.

Dead trees and downed wood, on the other hand, decompose and release carbon into the atmosphere.

“The carbon that will be released as these trees decompose is enough to cancel out an entire year’s worth of net gain by all U.S. forests. And this is only from a single storm,’’ Chambers, the lead author of an article detailing the team’s findings, said.

The article, “Hurricane Katrina’s Carbon Footprint on Gulf Coast Forests,’’ is published in the most recent issue of the journal Science.

As the Earth’s climate warms, evidence is mounting that hurricanes, tornados and frontal systems will gain in energy, producing more violent storms and stronger winds, Chambers said.

Group Says 'Global Warming' could wipe out decades of progress

Climate change may cut rice and wheat yields in Asia and wipe out decades of social and economic progress, a report on the environment said.

``An increase of just 1 degree Celsius in night-time temperatures during the growing season will reduce Asian rice yields by 10 percent,'' according to environmental group Greenpeace, one of the contributors to the ``Up in Smoke'' report. ``Wheat production could by fall 32 percent by 2050.''

The report comes just before the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand will pledge to reduce the impact on global warming at their summit meeting in Singapore Nov. 21.

UN Climate Panel Reports Risk of Global Warming

The UN climate panel issued a landmark report on Saturday warning of severe consequences of global warming and urging governments to act to rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

The 26-page report, released in the Spanish city of Valencia by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Climate Change, said of the climate system is "unequivocal" and governments must take action to avoid warming catastrophic consequences.

Climate change is "evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level," the report noted.

The report, which will be the first point of reference for political negotiators meeting next month for talks aimed at finding out a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, attributed global warming mainly to greenhouse gas concentrations caused by human activities.

Signed in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol requires 36 industrial countries to significantly reduce their carbon emissions. It expires in 2012.

"Global total annual greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have risen by 70 percent since 1970," the report said.

It also said governments have a wide range of tools including higher taxes on emissions, regulations, tradeable permits and more investment in research.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the report, saying the potential impact of global warming is "so severe and so sweeping that only urgent, global action will do."

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita added to Global Greenhouse Gas Buildup

New satellite imaging has revealed that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita produced the largest single forestry disaster on record in the nation -- an essentially unreported ecological catastrophe that killed or severely damaged about 320 million trees in Mississippi and Louisiana.

The die-off, caused initially by wind and later by weeks-long pooling of stagnant water, was so massive that researchers say it will add significantly to the global greenhouse gas buildup -- ultimately putting as much carbon from dying vegetation into the air as the rest of the nation's forests take out in a year of photosynthesis.

In addition, the downing of so many trees has opened vast and sometimes fragile tracts to several aggressive and fast-growing exotic species that are already squeezing out more environmentally productive native species.

Efforts to limit the damage have been handicapped by the ineffectiveness of a $504 million federal program to help Gulf Coast landowners replant and fight the invasive species. Congress appropriated the money in 2005 -- the year the hurricanes hit -- and added to it in 2007. But officials acknowledge that the program got off to a slow start and only about $70 million has been promised or dispensed so far. Local advocates said onerous bureaucratic hurdles and low compensation rates are major reasons why.

Gore, Schwarzenegger to push Climate Forum

Former Vice President Al Gore and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will take part in a bipartisan presidential forum on energy and climate change next month in New Hampshire, shortly ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation primary.

Gore, who has been the target of several Democratic grass-roots efforts to persuade him to run for president, has said he has no plans to become a candidate, but hasn't firmly shut the door to a bid. Schwarzenegger, a Republican and native of Austria who is prohibited by the Constitution from becoming president, had previously signaled his intention to play a role in the 2008 contest by drawing attention to issues of special interest, including global warming.

A spokesman for Schwarzenegger confirmed the forum after Arizona Sen. John McCain, a GOP presidential candidate, mentioned it Thursday during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Adam Mendelsohn says the forum is still being planned, but candidates from both major parties are expected to attend. Gore — who won the popular vote for president in 2000, but lost the electoral vote count through a Supreme Court decision — will handle the Democratic candidates at the forum, while Schwarzenegger will handle the Republicans.

Zoo Urges Bush to save Polar Bears

Brookfield Zoo's three polar bears are popular attractions -- massive beasts which, tossing toys and buckets into their exhibit pool, sometimes act like kids at the beach.

But, zoo president Stuart Strahl said Wednesday, "We do not want zoos to be the only place where people can see polar bears."

A report by government scientists is predicting that two-thirds of the world's 22,000 polar bears -- and all of those in Alaska -- will disappear by 2050, mostly due to arctic ice cap melting caused by global warming.

As Brookfield's bears frolicked behind them, Strahl and National Resources Defense Council official Andrew Wetzler urged the Bush administration to classify polar bears as a "threatened" species. That designation would require the government to develop a survival plan, including ways to address overall global warming and greenhouse gasses, said Wetzler.

Under legal pressure by the council and other environmental groups, the Interior Department has agreed to consider the designation and is expected to rule in January.

Brookfield's bears were born in captivity but wild polar bears this summer saw a record reduction in their sea ice habitat. Over the last 30 years, sea ice on the Arctic Ocean has shrunk by more than 1 million square miles, or about 17 times the size of Illinois, according to the NRDC.

"If we don't take action now, our generation, and our children's generation, will be the last generations to see polar bears in the wild,'' said Wetzler.

Some say that putting the bears under the Endangered Species Act would be premature. "The listing of a currently healthy species based entirely on highly speculative and uncertain climate and ice [forecasts] . . . would be unprecedented," Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wrote in a letter to the Interior Department.

Alaska officials also say oil and gas operations, current conservation plans and bear hunting for food by native Alaskans also could be threatened under the proposed polar bear designation.

UN Panel's Global Warming Report May Win U.S. Support

American officials are planning to back a new United Nations document that says governments and businesses will have to spend billions of dollars a year to reduce global warming and adapt to its effects.

The report will be discussed this week at a meeting of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, the group of scientists producing the most detailed study yet of global warming. The group's recommendation will guide talks in Bali, Indonesia next month of the UN body charged with writing a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, an international accord that set carbon gas emission limits for some countries.

By agreeing with the draft document, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg, the U.S. is indicating a need for faster action to slow climate change. As the largest emitter of gases blamed for global warming, the U.S. is seen by other nations as critical to the creation of a new worldwide response when the Kyoto agreement expires in 2012.

The Left and Right Debate on Global Warming

For many years, the battle over what to think and do about human-caused climate change and fossil fuels has been waged mostly as a yelling match between the political and environmental left and the right.

The left says global warming is a real-time crisis requiring swift curbs on smokestack and tailpipe gases that trap heat, and that big oil, big coal and antiregulatory conservatives are trashing the planet.

The right says global warming is somewhere between a hoax and a minor irritant, and argues that liberals’ thirst for top-down regulations will drive American wealth to developing countries and turn off the fossil-fueled engine powering the economy.

Some books mirror the divide, like the recent “Field Notes from a Catastrophe,” built on a trio of articles in The New Yorker by Elizabeth Kolbert, and “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming” by Chris Horner, a lawyer for the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Ms. Kolbert sounds a strong warning call, and Mr. Horner’s book fits with the position of the institute, a libertarian and largely industry-backed group that strongly opposes limits on greenhouse gases.

But in three other recent books, there seems to be a bit of a warming trend between the two camps. Instead of bashing old foes, the authors, all influential voices in the climate debate with roots on the left or the right, tend to chide their own political brethren and urge a move to the pragmatic center on climate and energy.

All have received mixed reviews and generated heated Internet debate — perhaps because they do not bolster any one agenda in a world where energy and environmental policies are still forged mainly in the same way Doctor Dolittle’s two-headed pushmi-pullyu walked. (It didn’t move much.)

One such book comes from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, one of the most polarizing forces in politics a decade ago.

In “A Contract With the Earth,” Mr. Gingrich, with his co-author Terry L. Maple (a professor of psychology at Georgia Tech and president of the Palm Beach Zoo), has written a manifesto challenging conservatives not just to grudgingly accept, but to embrace, the idea that a healthy environment is necessary for a healthy democracy and economy.

Scientists trying to pinpoint Global Warming forecasts

Moving on from the risk of global warming, scientists are now looking for ways to pinpoint the areas set to be affected by climate change, to help countries plan everything from new crops to hydropower dams.

Billion-dollar investments, ranging from irrigation and flood defences to the site of wind farms or ski resorts, could hinge on assessments about how much drier, wetter, windier or warmer a particular area will become.

But scientists warn precision may never be possible. Climate is so chaotic and the variables so difficult to compute that even the best model will be far from perfect in estimating what the future holds.

Thousands of Australians rally on Climate Change

Tens of thousands of people rallied in protests around Australia on Sunday, calling on political parties to take stronger action over global warming.

The Walk Against Warming rallies, held in capital cities and about 50 country towns, aimed to draw attention to the issue of climate change in the final weeks of campaigning for the Nov. 24 general election.

Nature Conservation Council executive director Cate Faehrmann said early estimates were that up to 150,000 people had marched in protests around Australia.

She told reporters that protesters wanted the parties to show a stronger commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and said a near-term target of cutting emissions by 30 percent by 2020 was needed. The Labor opposition has set a 2050 emissions target.

UN Chief Makes Antarctica Visit

Mr Ban - the first UN chief to visit the continent - wanted to see for himself the effects of climate change on the world's largest wilderness.

After flying over melting glaciers, he told reporters that what he had seen had been both "extraordinarily beautiful" and "disturbing".

Mr Ban is preparing to host a climate conference in Indonesia in December.

The secretary general flew to Antarctica from southern Chile, and was briefed by experts about the impact of global warming on the frozen continent.

Antarctica is home to about 90% of the world's ice, but scientists say some parts are melting fast.


In some areas of the continent, temperatures have risen by as much as 3C in the past 50 years - prompting penguins to move inland in search of colder habitats.

Over the next century global warming could speed up the melting of the polar ice caps, causing major flooding of lowlands and changes in crop production, experts have warned.

California sues EPA over Global Warming

California and 14 other states are demanding urgent action on global warming from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, arguing in a lawsuit filed Thursday that the environmental and health risks are mounting every day that the Bush administration delays action.

But a quick remedy to the problem may not be in the cards, even if the EPA makes a decision about California's plan to give its drivers cleaner cars that emit fewer greenhouse gases.

A tangle of lawsuits is expected to follow, no matter what the EPA's decision is, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger acknowledged Thursday.

EU Praises Efforts to 'Fight Global Warming '

The European Union yesterday praised China's efforts to fight climate change despite having diverging views from Beijing over a post-Koyto Protocol structure.

China is very committed to fighting climate change, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and improving energy efficiency, the chairman of European Parliament's Temporary Committee on Climate Change, Guido Sacconi, said at a news conference in Beijing.

His remarks came on the last day of his three-day visit to China during which he met with senior officials involved in devising policies to fight climate change and enforce them.

China acknowledges the importance of cooperating with industrialized countries on technology and technology transfer, as well as the need for financial assistance in these fields, he said. The EU and China will continue cooperating closely on the issue.

Experts Warn Florida About 'Climate Change'

Scientists and economists Tuesday warned lawmakers of consequences Florida faces from climate change, including more destructive hurricanes and a rising sea level, but they also said the state could be a leader in reducing global warming.

Three panels of experts spoke at a symposium held by the House Environmental Resources Council and three related committees.

Climate change will figure into comprehensive energy and environmental policy legislation the lawmakers will be considering during the 2008 legislative session, said Council Chairman Stan Mayfield, R-Vero Beach.

Some legislators, though, questioned whether Florida could do much to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, spewed mostly from power plants and vehicle exhausts, that contribute to global warming. That's because Florida emits only 1 percent of those gasses worldwide.

"If Florida is the only group in the world doing anything you're not going to make a dent in this," acknowledged Judy Curry, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "But some of the things that Florida is doing really could lead the way."

Gov. Charlie Crist has attempted to put Florida in the lead by ordering that greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 2000 levels by the year 2017, to 1990 levels by 2025 and 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

U.S. Must Meet Global Warming Challenge

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton Monday pledged to slash US greenhouse gas emissions, as she aimed to bounce back from her most difficult week yet on the campaign trail.

Clinton's comprehensive plan to tackle global warming represented the latest sign that environmental issues are playing a greater role in the 2008 White House race, than in any previous US election.

"This is the biggest challenge we've faced in a generation, a challenge to our economy, our security, our health, and our planet," Clinton said in the midwestern state of Iowa, which holds first party nominating contests on January 3.

"It is time for America to meet it," she said.

The Clinton plan uses a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, in a bid to head off the most damaging results of global warming.

It also sets a target of reducing foreign oil imports to the gas guzzling United States by two-thirds from levels projected to be reached in 2030 -- a cut of 10 million barrels per day.

Is There A Link Between Hurricanes and Global Warming?

"There's no question it's been a schizophrenic season," said Chris Mooney, author of the book Storm World, which explores the link between global warming and hurricanes.

With its Category 5 storms and low ACE index, the 2007 season offers ammunition for both camps of scientists arguing over the impact of global warming on hurricanes.

The overall number of systems for this year so far — 14 named storms, four of which became hurricanes — is above the long-term average of about 10 named storms a year.

But scientists who believe global warming is having a measurable effect on hurricanes say climate change is more apt to influence the intensity of systems, rather than the overall number.

"Two Category 5s in a slow year argues in favor of the climate change hypothesis, as the per-storm intensification rate was quite high this year," said James Elsner, a Florida State University hurricane scientist who believes global warming is affecting storm activity.

Yet some hurricane scientists who are uncertain whether hurricane activity would already be showing a measurable effect from global warming say having two Category 5 hurricanes in a single season may not be much of a rarity in the Atlantic.

KICKBACKS

Kickbacks are another example of the type of corruption that the citizens of New Orleans had to endure from some of its elected officials and businessmen who are cronies of those elected officials.


A kickback is an official's share of misappropriated funds allocated from his or her organization to an organization involved in corrupt bidding. For example, suppose that a politician is in charge of choosing how to spend some public funds. He can give a contract to a company that isn't the best bidder, or allocate more than they deserve. In this case, the company benefits, and in exchange for betraying the public, the official receives a kickback payment, which is a portion of the sum the company received.

This sum itself may be all or a portion of the difference between the actual (inflated) payment to the company and the (lower) market-based price that would have been paid had the bidding been competitive. Kickbacks are not limited to government officials; any situation in which people are entrusted to spend funds that do not belong to them is susceptible to this kind of corruption.

Climate Change Affects Security

Climate change could be one of the greatest national security challenges ever faced by U.S. policy makers, according to a new joint study by two U.S. think tanks.

The report, to be released Monday, raises the threat of dramatic population migrations, wars over water and resources, and a realignment of power among nations.

During the last two decades, climate scientists have underestimated how quickly the Earth is changing — perhaps to avoid being branded as "alarmists," the study said. But policy planners should count on climate-induced instability in critical parts of the world within 30 years.

The report was compiled by a panel of security and climate specialists, sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for a New American Security. The Associated Press received an advance copy.

Climate change is likely to breed new conflicts, but it already is magnifying existing problems, from the desertification of Darfur and competition for water in the Middle East to the disruptive monsoons in Asia which increase the pressure for land, the report said.

It examined three scenarios, ranging from the consequences of an expected temperature increase of 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2040, to the catastrophic implications of a 10-degree rise by the end of the century.

Will New Orleans' Inspector General get the funds needed to investigate Corruption that plagues the city?

Cerasoli has requested $2.9 million, an amount he initially said would let him hire a staff of 34. Having later learned that he also must pay pension and health benefits out of his budget, Cerasoli said $2.9 million would allow him a staff of about 24.

Nagin told the council that the $1.3 million he recommended for the new office is based on budgets for similar agencies in cities of comparable size.

After Nagin's address, Cerasoli called the $1.3 million "absolutely insufficient."

"Certainly, we're going to be able to do something, but we'll be performing at a lower level," he said.

In addition, he said, Nagin's budget includes no money for the Ethics Review Board, which requested $300,000. Cerasoli said he fears its money will have to come from his budget.

Council President Arnie Fielkow said the council will address the "significant gap" between Cerasoli's request and the mayor's recommendation during budget hearings.

Nagin warned the council against paying for programs it wants by increasing the amount of federal money the city will borrow next year. The budget already includes around $50 million in borrowing, and increasing that number could affect the city's bond rating, he said.

Feds probe Una Anderson bribery allegation

About six weeks after DeCay's sentencing, former City Councilman Oliver Thomas pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Barre, based on information Barre provided to the government.

The next day, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's office subpoenaed a raft of School Board records involving Metro Disposal and the award of the trash-collection contract, according to a copy of the subpoena.

Since then, Letten's office has twice requested that Barre's sentencing be delayed. Such delays are often a sign that investigators are still following leads provided by a defendant.

The School Board awarded the trash-hauling contract to Metro in February 2001, with Richard's receiving a subcontract for at least 35 percent of the work. Before landing the deal, Metro and Richard's had for years worked as subcontractors to Waste Management.

Anderson questioned the timing of Barre's allegation becoming public, as she is in the middle of a runoff campaign against Walker Hines for the 95th District state House seat. She acknowledges that she has been interviewed by FBI agents on three occasions about the contract, which she said the federal government seems to suspect was rigged. The most recent interview was about three months ago, she said.

Her husband, banker Dave Anderson, has also been questioned. He said he doesn't know Barre well and has never done any business with him.

Una Anderson said she doesn't know Barre well either. Neither of the Andersons could recall having quarreled with Barre, politically or otherwise.

Anderson said she was assured by federal investigators that neither she nor her husband are targets of the inquiry. Her attorney, Blake Jones, said federal investigators have routinely turned to Anderson to learn more about the School Board's process for awarding contracts. She has been a "pristine source" federal investigators have relied on for solid information, Jones said.

2001 contract examined

But the feds' questioning of Anderson is different in the trash probe, said sources close to the case. The sources said Barre told investigators that he collected bribes from the two trash haulers and delivered them to Dave Anderson. In return, Barre told investigators, Una Anderson agreed to push for Metro to serve as the lead vendor on the School Board's garbage collection contract, worth $525,000 annually.

Barre, who was friendly with both Woods and Richard, did not profit from the deal, he told investigators.

In late 2000 and early 2001, Anderson, then a relatively new member of the School Board, headed a board subcommittee that reviewed contracts and made recommendations to the board. The subcommittee recommended Metro.

The investigation described by sources marks the second recent criminal probe into an Orleans Parish School Board member. Former School Board President Ellenese Brooks-Simms pleaded guilty in June to accepting bribes from Mose Jefferson, the brother of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson. Brooks-Simms said she took the money in exchange for supporting the district's purchase of I CAN Learn, a computerized algebra tutorial.

In that case, federal sources said, Anderson and the other board members were called before the grand jury purely as "fact witnesses," telling prosecutors what they recalled of the transactions and explaining the purchasing process.

Brooks-Simms is the only School Board member to be accused of any wrongdoing in that matter. Sources close to the trash-hauling probe said it is based on a separate allegation.

Metro and Richard's held onto the deal for more than four years, landing two renewals, until the work was rebid and awarded to River Parishes Disposal just before Hurricane Katrina.

Last year, Mayor Ray Nagin's administration hired Metro and Richard's to handle residential trash pickup throughout most of the city, except the French Quarter and other Central Business District neighborhoods. The city garbage contracts are worth a combined $24 million, more than twice what the city paid before Katrina for similar service.

Vocal critic of corruption

Anderson, along with most other School Board members at the time, championed an anti-corruption stance during a time when the system was plagued with thefts and kickback deals. The schemes -- some petty, some brazen -- have resulted in more than two dozen convictions in a still-unfolding probe.

Early in her tenure, Anderson teamed up with Brooks-Simms, Jimmy Fahrenholtz and a revolving cast of other members in a reform-touting faction that, for a time, controlled the board. Eventually, Anderson and Fahrenholtz split bitterly with Brooks-Simms over their support for then-Superintendent Tony Amato and became a vocal two-member minority.

Some School Board records on the trash deals were lost or damaged in the storm, officials said. Those that remain shed little light on what role Anderson, one of seven board members, played in the hiring of Metro.

A graduate of Harvard University and a former aide to Thomas on the City Council, Anderson was a relatively new board member when the trash contract came up in 2000, having been appointed a year earlier to serve out an unexpired term. She has since been elected twice, most recently in 2004.

Incomplete records

School Board officials could not locate the request for proposals issued in October 2000; also unavailable were staff scoresheets and recommendations about which vendor to select. Board Secretary Thelma French said many records were destroyed by roof leaks caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Board minutes indicate that three companies submitted proposals: Browning-Ferris Industries, Metro Disposal and Waste Management, which held the contract at the time.

Joe Bekeris, then the system's chief administrative officer, said he remembers that Metro's initial bid was deemed nonresponsive by staffers because of a "failure to comply with certain provisions."

But the board voted to allow Metro to resubmit its proposal, Bekeris said. Bekeris said he recalls board member Elliot Willard speaking in favor of cutting Metro a break, but he doesn't remember much else about the vote.

Willard and Anderson both said they did not recall that discussion.

Board officials could not locate the minutes of the meetings of late 2000, which have also been subpoenaed by Letten's office.

At the board's meeting on Jan. 8, 2001, Anderson sponsored a motion to temporarily extend the contract for pickup held by Waste Management while the process of reviewing proposals was finalized.

"Mrs. Anderson stated she will be scheduling a Purchasing and Procurement Committee meeting as soon as possible to handle this issue in a very expeditious manner," the minutes say.

School Board officials could not locate minutes of the Purchasing Committee's meetings.

At the regular board meeting Feb. 12, 2001, the board approved a deal with Metro. The minutes indicate that Metro was deemed the "lowest respondent" -- apparently meaning best-priced -- by the Screening and Evaluation Committee, composed of board administrators.

The motion to hire Metro came from Brooks-Simms; it was seconded by Anderson.

Barre hosted fundraiser

Anderson said she doesn't remember much about the process, which occurred nearly seven years ago. But supporting a locally owned company such as Metro would have been in keeping with her beliefs, she said.

"I'm sure we looked at many factors," Anderson said. "I'm sure there was an evaluation of the proposals brought by the administration. In addition, I do believe that working with a local company is preferred. It leaves more money in the local economy."

Anderson's campaign reports show that she received five $1,000 contributions on May 2, 2001, three months after the initial contract was approved. The contributions came from Richard and his firm; Woods and his firm; and Woods' brother, Glenn Woods, who is an officer with Metro.

Anderson said the $1,000 checks were given to her at a campaign dinner held at Pampy's Creole Kitchen, Barre's 7th Ward restaurant that was the base of his political operations. She said she remembers "eight or 10 people" being at the dinner.

Dave Anderson said the FBI's questions to him all centered on that dinner. Agents wanted to know why he was there, he said.

He said he told the FBI "that it was normal for me to accompany my wife to dinner." Dave Anderson said federal agents did not ask him about anything else.

The checks from Metro and Richard's and their principals were the only contributions Anderson received that year, according to her reports. No other board members reported contributions from the trash haulers that year.

Anderson said it would be a mistake to read anything into the donations or the dinner.

"In no way do campaign contributions influence my decisions on contracts," she said. "Those decisions are made on what I believe to be the best service provider for the entity, in this case the School Board." |Read more|

Bribery and Graft

Bribery requires two participants: one to give the bribe, and one to take it. Bribes may be demanded in order for an official to do something he is already paid to do. They may also be demanded in order to bypass laws and regulations.

While bribery includes an intent to influence or be influenced by another for personal gain, which is often difficult to prove, graft only requires that the official gains something of value, not part of his official pay, when doing his work. Large "gifts" qualify as graft.

Bribery and graft can cause serious econimic damage to the economy. Tougher laws need to be established in order to increase the criminal and civil penalties against the corrupt individuals who engage in these practices.

How Public Corruption Affects Your State

Public corruption poses a serious development challenge. It undermines democracy and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. It reduces accountability and distorts representation in policymaking; It compromises the rule of law; and it results in the unfair provision of services. More generally, public corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. At the same time, it undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance.

Public corruption also undermines economic development by generating considerable distortions and inefficiency. In the private sector, it increases the cost of business through the price of illicit payments themselves, the management cost of negotiating with officials, and the risk of breached agreements or detection. Although some claim public corruption reduces costs by cutting red tape, the availability of bribes can also induce officials to contrive new rules and delays. Openly removing costly and lengthy regulations are better than covertly allowing them to be bypassed by using bribes. Where public corruption inflates the cost of business, it also distorts the playing field, shielding firms with connections from competition and thereby sustaining inefficient firms.

Public corruption also generates economic distortions in the public sector by diverting public investment into capital projects where bribes and kickbacks are more plentiful. Officials may increase the technical complexity of public sector projects to conceal or pave way for such dealings, thus further distorting investment. Public corruption also lowers compliance with construction, environmental, or other regulations, reduces the quality of government services and infrastructure, and increases budgetary pressures on government.

Fight Political Corruption Now

It is crucial that we as a society fight corruption by not remaining silent. Do not allow corrupt individuals to harm our cities. If we allow it to continue, our country will suffer for years to come and the detrimental effects will be staggering.

Corruption is a general concept describing any organized, interdependent system in which part of the system is either not performing duties it was originally intended to, or performing them in an improper way, to the detriment of the system's original purpose.

Political corruption, dysfunctions of a political system or institution in which public officials seek illegitimate personal gain through actions such as bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, and embezzlement. "Rent seeking" is a closely related term in economics.

In broad terms, political corruption is the misuse by government officials of their governmental powers for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, like repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Illegal acts by private persons or corporations not directly involved with the government is not considered political corruption either.

Public Corruption Impacts Us All

Public corruption is something we all should try to fight. I got the following excerpt from the FBI's website in order to demonstrate the serious need for all of us to stand together against public corruption.

Public corruption can take funding away from your child's school and even prevent your street from being re-paved. Police who take bribes endanger your neighborhood. And guess who ultimately foots the bill for these crimes? We all do...through higher taxes. The Government Accountability Office estimates that at least 10 percent of the funding for federal government programs is lost to public corruption and government fraud every year. We're talking tens of billions of dollars

If you know of any instances of public corruption, in your state, please contact the FBI.

Uncertainty and Climate Change go hand in hand

Despite decades of ever more-exacting science projecting Earth's warming climate, there remains large uncertainty about just how much warming will actually occur.


Two University of Washington scientists believe the uncertainty remains so high because the climate system itself is very sensitive to a variety of factors, such as increased greenhouse gases or a higher concentration of atmospheric particles that reflect sunlight back into space.

In essence, the scientists found that the more likely it is that conditions will cause climate to warm, the more uncertainty exists about how much warming there will be.

Senator says "Global Warming Bill Needs Work"

A bipartisan Senate bill to limit greenhouse gases will have a hard time getting the 60 votes needed to overcome parliamentary roadblocks unless it addresses some of industry's concerns, a Republican senator said Friday.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, told reporters that a requirement in the bill to cut heat-trapping emissions by 15 percent by 2020 can't be met without a push to develop new technologies such as ways to capture carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants.

"Technology should be driving all this," said Voinovich. He said he favors action to address global warming, but that any bill should include incentives to develop the technologies — such as carbon capture from power plants — needed to meet the emission-reduction mandates.

Legislation introduced last week by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., would require that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants, industrial facilities and transportation be cut by 70 percent by mid-century.

Cotton Crop management to become more complicated

Climate change through global warming may increase photosynthesis, leading to increased vegetative growth in cotton but not necessarily resulting in greater production of lint. Global warming may increase salt concentrations in soils, thus changing nutrient availability. Insects may spread to more areas, diseases may become more common and crop management will become more complicated.

The cost of production may continue to rise, and the development of new technologies may be crucial. Environmental regulations may become stricter, possibly resulting in higher costs to produce cotton. Agricultural policies, domestic and international, may tend to be complicated and far-reaching. Cotton growers may have to make many strategic business decisions because of climate change.

Climate expert says drought ,., flooding threatens Texas

A top climate scientist warned Wednesday that Texas faces a dual threat from floods and drought if global warming is left unchecked.

James Hansen, in Houston to speak before the Progressive Forum on Wednesday night, said predictions made two decades ago about the effects of a warming world are now beginning to come true.

"Texas is in the line of fire for double-barreled climate impacts," said Hansen, who heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. "What we said in the 1980s, and is beginning to come true now, is that both ends of the hydrological cycle get intensified by global warming."

A warmer climate increases evaporation, he said. It both sucks moisture from the ground, intensifying drought, and increases atmospheric humidity, which causes more rain to fall during extreme events.

Hansen gained attention in the 1980s by testifying to congressional committees about the perils of global warming and again in 2005 and 2006 by claiming that NASA administrators sought to influence his public statements about the causes of climate change. Because of this, he is arguably the world's most well-known climate researcher.

On Wednesday, Hansen again spoke out on a political issue. He expressed concerns about an Associated Press report that the White House had significantly edited a draft of testimony prepared for a Senate hearing on the impact of climate change.

The White House denied that it had "watered down" the congressional testimony that Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had given Tuesday to the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

"The whole idea of democracy that our Founding Fathers had was that the public is educated, and that they are informed honestly," Hansen said.

Health Concerns Spur U.S. Senate to Global Warming Action

Amid growing evidence that scientists have underestimated the pace of global warming, public health experts on Tuesday urged U.S. lawmakers to support efforts to better understand the human health impacts from climate change.


"Climate change is a global health crisis," Michael McCally, a public health physician and executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Scientists predict climate change will increase heat waves, fires, flooding, hurricanes and drought - all of which adversely impact human health, McCally said.

Furthermore, a warming climate also has the potential to decrease air quality, negatively impact the quantity and quality of fresh water supplies and increase vector, food and water-borne diseases.

Carbon Dioxide Levels Rising Faster Than Predicted, Study Says

Carbon dioxide is collecting in the atmosphere faster than forecast as the use of dirtier fuels increases worldwide, an Australian-led team of scientists said.

Rising levels of the main gas blamed for climate change threatens to accelerate global warming, the researchers said. The study builds on previous findings and may lead to a change in the way scientists predict climate change.

The growth rate of carbon dioxide, or CO2, emissions has averaged 3.3 percent a year since 2000, compared with 1.1 percent in the 1990s, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The rate rose 35 percent more than scientists had anticipated based on economic growth, said Corinne Le Quere, one of the authors of the paper.

China attaches importance to global warming

China attaches great importance to climate change and has always been a responsible player combating global warming, delegates at the 17th Party congress said, ahead of a number of international meetings addressing the problem.

Party General Secretary Hu Jintao said at the congress that all countries "should assist and cooperate with each other in conservation efforts to take good care of the Earth, our only home".

For the first time the CPC has added global environmental issues to its political report at the congress, setting out the country's top priorities in the following five years. The Party leadership has also put domestic environmental protection and energy reduction high on the agenda.

The Sea Change in Global Warming

Fresh fears about global warming were raised yesterday by a study which found that the oceans seem to be losing their ability to absorb carbon dioxide.

Oceans normally act as a "sink" for the gas by absorbing it through natural processes.

But a report by British scientists has concluded CO2 levels in the North Atlantic have halved in ten years.

One of the authors, Professor Andrew Watson, of East Anglia university, said this could increase global warming by leaving more CO2 in the atmosphere.

He said: "We suspect that the 'sink' is much more sensitive to changes in climate than we had expected.

"If you have a series of relatively warm winters, the ocean surface doesn't cool so much, you don't get so much sub-surface water formed and so the CO2 is not being taken down into the deep water."

The scientists recorded the Atlantic's CO2 levels by taking readings from water collected by thousands of ships which crossed the ocean between 1995 and 2005.

One proposal to increase oceans' ability to absorb CO2 is to create a network of pipes to improve the circulation of water far below the surface.

But Prof Watson said he was sceptical about the long-term impact of such a scheme.

Sen. Gregg says Global Warming legislation deserves serious consideration

Republican Sen. Judd Gregg says a new Senate bill to combat global warming "deserves serious consideration," even though one of the bill's sponsors says it goes beyond President Bush's proposals on global warming.

Leading environmentalists in New Hampshire also support the legislation, which has bipartisan support in Congress. Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., introduced the bill this week.

Supporters say it would reduce greenhouse gases from the largest sources by 15 percent by 2020 and 75 percent by 2050. The bill would establish a greenhouse gas emissions cap that covers electric utilities, manufacturing sources and transportation. It also contains provisions for energy efficiency standards for appliances and buildings. Fully implemented, supporters say the bill has the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than half by mid-century.

Feds take aim at corruption by officials in New Orleans

The voice on the radio assumes the tone of a high school principal: "Public service is not about stealing from the people — it's about giving to the people."

The voice belongs to James Bernazzani, the FBI's special agent in charge in New Orleans. He, along with the U.S. Attorney's Office here and a new inspector general at City Hall, is launching a very public assault on public corruption.

The FBI's New Orleans office has tracked a 452% jump in corruption indictments the past five years. Corruption convictions in eastern Louisiana climbed 33% in the same period, making it one of the top spots in the country for such convictions, according to Justice Department statistics.

Among those convicted: 23 Orleans Parish school officials, 16 workers from city hall and 14 traffic court employees, along with judges, councilmen and other officials, said Jim Letten, U.S. Attorney for eastern Louisiana. "We're going after anyone — whether it's a teacher or minor public official — who engages in any kind of public corruption," he said.

Many of the investigations were launched before the 2005 floods and destruction unleashed by Hurricane Katrina. But the post-storm recovery, with billions of dollars in federal aid streaming into the area, can lead to further corruption and triggered agents to step up investigations, Bernazzani said.

Robert Cerasoli, a former inspector general for the state of Massachusetts who has a long résumé of fighting waste and corruption, was recruited this summer for the position. Cerasoli stunned city officials by not taking a city car, opting instead to use his personal car, and moving into a small, loaned office on the third floor of Loyola University's Monroe Library.

Unlike the FBI, which investigates individuals, Cerasoli said his job will be to examine the system to see where changes can be made to prevent corruption. He said his first task will be to study the city charter and its many agencies, commissions and quasi-governmental bodies, looking for conflicts of interest. "I'm certainly going to find corruption along the way," he said.

Though hired by the city, Cerasoli said it is still not known whether the city will block access to records and files or give him the money and access needed to do his job. The City Council is expected to announce his budget Nov. 1.