Situation Report

Stanford Scientist Unveils 50-State Plan to Transform U.S. to Renewable Energy

                                        (CLICK ON MAP IMAGE BELOW FOR INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE)

      

This interactive graphic shows how each state can move to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. See http://thesolutionsproject.org/infographic/.

Mark Jacobson and his colleagues have created a 50-state roadmap for replacing coal, oil and natural gas with wind, water and solar energy.

stanford.edu - by Mark Shwartz - February 26, 2014

Stanford University scientist Mark Jacobson has developed a 50-state roadmap for transforming the United States from dependence on fossil fuels to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. He unveiled the plan at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago.

"Drastic problems require drastic and immediate solutions," said Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. "Our new roadmap is designed to provide each state a first step toward a renewable future."

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Steven Chu, Secretary of the Dept of Energy on Melting Permafrost and Methane Hydrate Releases

Nobel Physicist and US Energy Secretary Steven Chu describes the potential global warming feedback from melting permafrost and methane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHqKxWvcBdg&list=PLF48ACB853C81076A

November 30, 2010

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Arctic Seafloor Methane Releases Double Previous Estimates

      

Methane burns as it escapes through a hole in the ice in a lagoon above the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. 
Credit: Natalia Shakhova
 
 

sciencedaily.com - University of Alaska Fairbanks - November 25, 2013

The seafloor off the coast of Northern Siberia is releasing more than twice the amount of methane as previously estimated, according to new research results published in the Nov. 24 edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.

The East Siberian Arctic Shelf is venting at least 17 teragrams of the methane into the atmosphere each year. . .

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Is Weird Winter Weather Related to Climate Change?

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The polar jet stream may be driving a "hemispheric pattern of severe weather."

submitted by Paul Pritchard

e360.yale.edu - by Fred Pearce - February 24, 2014

Scientists are trying to understand if the unusual weather in the Northern Hemisphere this winter — from record heat in Alaska to unprecedented flooding in Britain — is linked to climate change. One thing seems clear: Shifts in the jet stream play a key role and could become even more disruptive as the world warms.

This winter’s weather has been weird across much of the Northern Hemisphere. Record storms in Europe; record drought in California; record heat in parts of the Arctic, including Alaska and parts of Scandinavia; but record freezes too, as polar air blew south over Canada and the U.S., causing near-record ice cover on the Great Lakes, sending the mercury as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius in Minnesota, and bringing sharp chills to Texas.

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It Still Isn’t Over: The Polar Vortex is About to Hit for the Third Time

      

The first polar vortex (Credit: NASA/Facebook)

Next week is going to be brutal

salon.com - by Lindsay Abrams - February 20, 2014

Remember that time when a giant pattern of Arctic air descended over the U.S. and Canada, freezing everything in its path? Remember when it came back? Yeah, that’s all happening again.

Here’s Wunderground’s Jeff Masters, who completely buried the lede with something about a “major February thaw” across the Midwest U.S. before delving into this forecast of horrors:

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Detroit Files Historic Bankruptcy Blueprint

      

Detroit laid out its blueprint Friday for how it will emerge from the largest municipal bankruptcy ever. 
Joshua Lott / Reuters

nbcnews.com - by Patrick J. Rizzo - February 21, 2014

Detroit revealed its historic plan to emerge from under $18 billion in debt Friday, laying the groundwork for what’s expected to be a long, bitter battle with creditors, retirees and bondholders over the biggest municipal bankruptcy ever.

The 120-page 'plan of adjustment' could change radically as negotiations with more than 100,000 creditors move forward. It must still be approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes.

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(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

CLICK HERE - SUMMARY OF THE PLAN (2 page .PDF file)

CLICK HERE - Detroit Plan of Adjustment (120 page - Scribd)

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Some Pa. Residents Near Blown Chevron Gas Well Finding Pizza Gift Hard to Swallow

cnn.com - By Allie Malloy and Lauren Morton - February 19, 2014

(CNN) -- Some Pennsylvania residents who live near a Chevron natural gas well that exploded, killing a worker, are getting compensation of sorts from the corporation.

Free pizza and sodas.

The blast killed a worker and injured another, and although the fire is out gas and heat are still being emitted into the atmosphere, Rhodes said.

Chevron's edible outreach is not sitting well with some recipients.

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(CLICK HERE - Chevron Updates - Pennsylvania Incident)

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Radionuclides in Fracking Wastewater: Managing a Toxic Blend

A lined impoundment receives waste at a fracking site in Dimock, Pennsylvania.  J. Henry Fair

Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP)
ehp.niehs.nih.gov - Valerie J. Brown - February 1, 2014

Naturally occurring radionuclides are widely distributed in the earth’s crust, so it’s no surprise that mineral and hydrocarbon extraction processes, conventional and unconventional alike, often produce some radioactive waste.1 Radioactive drilling waste is a form of TENORM (short for “technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material”)—that is, naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) that has been concentrated or otherwise made more available for human exposure through anthropogenic means.2 Both the rapidity and the extent of the U.S. natural gas drilling boom have brought heightened scrutiny to the issues of radioactive exposure and waste management.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Research Poll - Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies in November 2013

yale.edu

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH POLL
Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies in November 2013

thinkprogress.org - by Ryan Koronowski - February 12, 2014

A recent survey found that most Republicans want the government to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, and regulate carbon pollution. And the vast majority of Americans believe the U.S. should take action to reduce global warming, regardless of any perceived cost to the economy.

The new poll by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication found that 83 percent of Americans want their country to make an effort to reduce global warming, even if it has economic costs. Despite calls for American inaction on climate until other countries act first, 60 percent of Americans think the U.S. should act “regardless of what other countries do.”

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U.S. Energy Mapping System

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U.S. Energy Information Administration - eia.gov

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.

Mission and Overview

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. EIA collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. EIA is the nation's premier source of energy information and, by law, its data, analyses, and forecasts are independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the U.S. Government.

EIA conducts a comprehensive data collection program that covers the full spectrum of energy sources, end uses, and energy flows. EIA also prepares informative energy analyses, monthly short-term forecasts of energy market trends, and long-term U.S. and international energy outlooks. EIA disseminates its data, analyses, and other products primarily through its website and customer contact center.

The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 established EIA as the primary federal government authority on energy statistics and analysis, building upon systems and organizations first established in 1974 following the oil market disruption of 1973. Located in Washington, DC, EIA is an organization of about 370 federal employees, with an annual budget in Fiscal Year 2013 of $99.5 million.

http://www.eia.gov/state/maps.cfm

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