Friday Five: November 23, 2012

Over the last month, it has become both economically and politically possible to state that global climate change not only threatens our quality of life, but it has already started to degrade it.
It's global warming stupid
"The broadening consensus: “Climate change amps up other basic factors that contribute to big storms. For example, the oceans have warmed, providing more energy for storms. And the Earth’s atmosphere has warmed, so it retains more moisture, which is drawn into storms and is then dumped on us.” Even those of us who are science-phobic can get the gist of that."

Not only will climate change most devastate the poorest among the world more than any other portion of the population, but the worst polluters have already begun to hurt people right here in our country.
Do coal plants really kill people?
"But while politicians have been busy obscuring their views on coal, public health researchers have been accumulating ever clearer data. Emissions from coal-fired power plants and other coal-burning sources have been linked to neurological and developmental deficits in children, a worsening of asthma, and cardiovascular disease and other health woes. Coal-burning is bad, bad, bad for your health—and looking ahead, the best we can hope for is that it will get marginally better."

Even as coal plants become more economically unviable - in spite of significant external subsidies....
Ripe for retirement: The case for closing America's costliest coal plants
"A significant number of U.S. coal-fired generators are old, inefficient, dirty, and no longer economically competitive. Simply stated, they are ripe for retirement and should be considered for closure."

We learn that the example we have set for the world means that other countries will look past the harm coal causes as long as they can try to achieve development through electrification.
More than 1,000 new coal plants planned worldwide, figures show
"Coal plants are the most polluting of all power stations and the World Resources Institute (WRI) identified 1,200 coal plants in planning across 59 countries, with about three-quarters in China and India. The capacity of the new plants add up to 1,400GW to global greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of adding another China – the world's biggest emitter. India is planning 455 new plants compared to 363 in China, which is seeing a slowdown in its coal investments after a vast building programme in the past decade."

There is hope from an unlikely source...the corporate sector. We have already seen that the military sees the danger in climate change, and now big business has seen the negative impact to the bottom line.
CDP: More big businesses see risks from climate change
"'Extreme weather events are causing significant financial damage to markets,' said Paul Simpson, CEO of the CDP. 'Investors therefore expect corporations to think more about climate resilience,' he said. 'There are still leaders and laggards but the economic driver for action is growing, as is the number of investors requesting emissions data. Governments seeking to build strong economies should take note.'"

Happy Friday!