Support the Clean Air Act

The attacks on the Clean Air Act are growing, including in the U.S. House, where at least seven separate bills have been introduced that would limit the EPA’s ability to reduce global warming pollution. The Clean Air Act has protected human health and the environment for nearly 40 years. But if these efforts are successful it could severely cripple efforts to move to a clean energy economy while letting America’s biggest polluters off the hook. Please call your Representatives and ask them to support the Clean Air Act and oppose these “Dirty Air Act” proposals. Talking points and other information is available on the USCAN Web site. To learn more, contact jkurz@climatenetwork.org.

Democratic Senators Push for Climate Bill This Year

Twenty-two Democratic senators urged that the Senate take up energy and climate-change legislation this year focused on jobs and reduced dependence on foreign oil.“We recognize that achieving agreement in the Senate will be a challenge, but across the country, Americans are coming together behind this effort,” the lawmakers said in a March 19 letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Senate Bill Allocation Fight Expected to Go Down to the Wire

Senators cobbling together a sweeping energy and climate bill are at the early stages of divvying up valuable emission allocations among regulated firms and well-financed interest groups. Graham and Lieberman said about 60 percent of the revenue raised by the government would immediately go directly back to the public as soon as the climate program starts. The bill is now expected to be unveiled during the week of Earth Day, April 22.

DOE, USDA, and NSF Launch Joint Climate Change Prediction Research Program

The U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture and the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the launch of a joint research program to produce high-resolution models for predicting climate change and its resulting impacts. Called Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction Using Earth System Models (EaSM), the program is designed to generate models that — significantly more powerful than existing models — can help decision-makers develop adaptation strategies addressing climate change.

Sen. Graham Peeved on Health Care but Will Stick With Climate Bill

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says he is not abandoning negotiations on a comprehensive energy and climate bill even as he warns of partisan gridlock following the Democrats’ push this week to pass health care reform.

Past Decade Was Warmest on Record, Meteorological Agency Reports

The last decade was the warmest on record, the World Meteorological Organization said in a report on Thursday. The finding by the association, a United Nations agency, corroborates earlier research by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Report Claims Flowers Lose Aroma Due To Climate Change

Stopping to smell the flowers might become much more difficult as climate change causes flowers to lose their signature aromas, researchers claim in a report released on Monday.  Among the findings were that pollinating flowers were not spreading their seeds as easily because of diminishing scent tissues, which are being burned because of increased global temperatures.

Global Cooling is Bunk, Draft NASA Study Finds

Global warming has neither stopped nor slowed in the past decade, according to a draft analysis of temperature data by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The analysis, led by Goddard director Jim Hansen, attempts to debunk popular belief that the planet is cooling. It finds that global temperatures over the past decade have “continued to rise rapidly,” despite large year-to-year fluctuations associated with the tropical El Niño-La Niña cycles.