There really are a ton of stories out there. Here’s a sampling:
Cars – I’ve written recently about electric cars and other exciting initiatives. There are more developments on the automotive front. Mitsubishi and Peugeot have entered into an alliance to supply key components for electric vehicles and may build their own as well. See this from Planet Ark. As noted here last month, Renault and Nissan already have come together to produce electric cars.
Meanwhile, in California , where else? , Pacific Gas & Electric announced a commitment of billions of dollars to build out an infrastructure to support plug-in hybrids. See this story, also from Reuters’ Planet Ark. PG & E made the commitment at a conference hosted by Google and the Brookings Institution, “Plug-in Electric Vehicles 2008: What Role for Washington?“ The conference featured some top people in the field, including one of the two authors of ZOOM: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future, Vijay Vaitheeswaran, and John Dingell, also known as Big John, Chairman, House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Finally, Honda just made a big splash when they announced the rolling out of their fuel-cell car. Get all they’ve got to say about it here.
Take a video break now for fun.
That’s from a nine-year old! You go, Jupe! There’s a world of important, useful information on plug-ins at Plug In America. (Plus more videos.)
Climate Change in the House – Speaking of John Dingell, this recent story from the “Detroit News” talks about draft legislation that the exceedingly powerful Mr. Dingell is putting together. As you know, the Senate just failed to bring a climate change bill to the floor there for a vote. (See No Surprise from the blog and Why The Climate Bill Failed from “Time.”)
Dingell’s legislation will be a powerful vehicle. He’s got serious juice and committee staff has a world of expertise. See his committee’s white papers on climate change for more on where we might be headed. As noted here, and in every other venue following climate change matters on The Hill, we’re not going to get anything this year, but in 2009 the stars will undoubtedly align for something robust. (By the way, Hill Heat is a good blog for following this story closely.)
Africa – The UN came out with a comprehensive report recently on the impact of climate change in Africa. This story from the “LA Times” summarizes things nicely. It’s not, in a work, pretty. The story reports that “Computer models project major changes in precipitation patterns on the continent, which could lead to food shortages and increased desertification. Yet on the whole, African nations lack the resources and technology to address such changes.” In its Fourth Assessment Report last year, the IPCC pronounced that “Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change and climate variability, a situation aggravated by the interaction of “multiple stresses’, occurring at various levels, and low adaptive capacity.”
Australia – I’ve been writing recently about CCS and coal plants. Well Greenpeace in Australia has just come out with a report saying that phasing out coal down under is not only necessary, it’s perfectly do-able. They are providing a blueprint for just how to do it. “The report shows how we can completely phase out coal-fired electricity in Australia by 2030 by harnessing the country’s renewable energy resources , which are enough to power half of Asia.” Good on ya.
Bonn – I noted here the international climate change negotiations that took place earlier this month. Here’s an item from the Environmental News Network summing up the talks, and a link to the UNFCCC website for more. “The road ahead of us is daunting,” said Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat. Okay, Yvo, tell us something we didn’t know. But we’re on it, baby.
