Recommendations to Obama on Climate Action

From CNN:

Melinda Pierce, legislative director for the Sierra Club, pushed the president to focus more on executive orders and regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency than on legislation.

"Congress is a place where good ideas go to die," she said. "There is a tremendous amount that his administration can do without Congress. He has the authority; he doesn't have to wait for Congress."

Eric Pooley, senior vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund, told CNN that while "serious climate legislation isn't in the cards this year" the White House understands that congressional "legislation is not the only way to make progress."

Obviously I too agree, or I would not have posted the above. Bill

BP/Horizon Closed Waters Re-opened to Fishing 4/19/11

From NOAA: "Effective April 19, 2011 at 6 p.m. eastern time (5 p.m. central time), NOAA will reopen the last 1,041 square miles (2,697 sq km) of area previously closed to commercial and recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico in response to the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill. All areas of federal waters previously closed to fishing because of the oil spill are now open. Other federal closed areas, such as marine protected areas, remain in effect.....

NOAA analyzed 85 finfish samples for sensory analysis and 112 finfish samples in 25 composites for chemical analysis, including commercially and recreationally important species, such as swordfish tuna, and escolar. Sensory testing showed no detectable oil or dispersant odors or flavors in the samples, and the results of chemical analysis were well below levels of concern for oil. Additionally, the composite samples used for the chemical analysis were subjected to a dispersant test developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and NOAA as an added precaution. The test detects a major component of the dispersants used during the spill response known as DOSS. No DOSS was detected in the samples or DOSS was found at levels well below the level of concern to protect public health."

This certainly seems like a positive event considering the magnitude of the spill. Full details are available on the title link. Relationship to climate? Minimal, other than fossil fuels get a very small reprieve from their horrible press concerning this event. Why was this event not as bad as the Exxon Valdez Alaska oil spill? Because Gulf of Mexico microbes were already attuned to eat oil seepage from the Gulf floor.

Sen. Carper Votes in Favor of Climate Science

The title link is to a very interesting and gratifying speech by Senator Carper. As most of you who follow this blog are Delawareans with interests in climate change and climate science, I thought you might like to view this 8 minute video of a speech he made on the Senate floor.

The lead in to the video is: "June 10, 2010 - Listen to Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) speak on the U.S. Senate floor against Senator Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) legislation that would have prevented the U.S. EPA from regulating harmful air pollution under the Clean Air Act. The legislation, S. J. RES. 26, was defeated by a vote of 47 to 53."

Also, as you are probably aware, there is new legislation in the works to take away the EPA's power to regulate pollution 'that only degrades the climate on Earth' (my quotes).

The EPA, CO2 Regulation and Climate Change

"Was the Clean air act intended to cover CO2?" This is a hugely complicated and hotly contested issue, but the title link to a ScienceInsider article by Eli Kintisch does a very nice job at clarifying the differing positions. Most interesting to me is that when the Clean Air Act of 1970 was being considered, climate effects due to pollutants were part of the considerations. From the article:

"There’s evidence that during the drafting of the act and its subsequent amendments that climate was one of the dangers Congress was thinking about. In 1970, as mentioned here, Senator Caleb Boggs (R-DE) said during debate on the law that “Air pollution alters climate and may produce global changes in temperature.” As laid out here, in 1977 a report by the House that accompanied an update to the law mentioned “possible weather and climate modifications” among the risks to particulate matter it was seeking to regulate."

As a side note, Eli Kintisch is author of the book, HACK THE PLANET. This is a book about geoengineering, which as he puts it, may be "Science's best hope - or worst nightmare - for averting climate catastrophe". Future posts on this blog will explore some of his thought provoking entries in this excellent book.