Category: RT Newswire

USE ME! Essentially, this is a catch all for everything. This is probably the ONLY category where things that are not directly related to Rising Tide affiliates/allies should go. For example if a coal company goes out of business (and we didn’t directly cause it) it should probably only go here.

Hurricane Ike Update

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This also fails to mention the likelihood of an extensive tornado outbreak-from Texas/Louisiana up into at least the Lower Mississippi Valley-along w/ much flash flooding & tropical-storm-force winds in these inland areas-that may even move further inland (Ohio-Tennessee Valleys) later.

This will not be pretty…

ASW

——– Original Message ——–
Subject:     Hurricane Ike update
Date:     Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:35:45 -0700
From:     Fred Heutte <phred@SUNLIGHTDATA.COM>
Reply-To:     Fred Heutte <phred@SUNLIGHTDATA.COM>
To:     OREGON-LEADERS@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG

There is a lot of media coverage but here are some key points:

* Hurricane Ike is a very large, dangerous storm that covers much of the Gulf of Mexico.  While it has held a quite steady course and has not gained much in wind force, it is poised for a direct hit on Galveston and Houston.

* Hurricane Ike will landfall at or close to Galveston Island around 2 am Saturday morning as a Category 2 storm with winds around 105-115 mph. Hurricane force winds will be felt in coastal areas for as much as 6 hours prior to that and will affect areas well inland as it turns sharply toward the north.  Millions of homes will lose power as
the storm damages the electrical grid.

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British Jury Acquits 6 Greenpeace Activists for Anti-Coal Action

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Published on Thursday, September 11, 2008 by The Independent/UK

Cleared! Jury Decides That Threat of Global Warming Justifies Breaking The Law   by
Michael McCarthy

The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing
more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided
yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the
jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.

Jurors accepted defence arguments that the six had a “lawful excuse” to damage
property at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greater damage caused
by climate change. The defence of “lawful excuse” under the Criminal Damage Act
1971 allows damage to be caused to property to prevent even greater damage – such
as breaking down the door of a burning house to tackle a fire.

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Old-Growth Forests Help Combat Climate Change

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Don’t forget: there is more to the relationship between mature &
old-growth forests and climate stability than carbon sequestration.

ASW

Scientific American
News –  September 11, 2008

Old-Growth Forests Help Combat Climate Change
Mature forests in colder climes may continue to store more carbon
than they emit, helping stave off global warming

By David Biello

Rare is the forest untouched by man. Whether logging or clearing land
for agriculture, the bulk of the world’s forests have fallen to
crops, cattle or younger trees. According to some estimates, less
than 10 percent of forests worldwide can be considered old growth, or
undisturbed for more than a century. And that is not just a tragedy
for the plants and animals that require mature forests-it is also a
tragedy for the world’s climate, according to a study published today
in Nature.

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NASA Study: Peak Oil Impacts on Climate

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——————————-
” … the rise in carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels can be
kept below harmful levels as long as emissions from coal are phased out globally within the next few decades.”
————————————————————–

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Public release date:
10-Sep-2008

Contact: Lynn Chandler
lynn-chandler-1@nasa.gov
301-286-2806

NASA study illustrates how global peak oil could impact climate

The burning of fossil fuels — notably coal, oil and gas — has
accounted for about 80 percent of the rise of atmospheric carbon
dioxide since the pre-industrial era. Now, NASA researchers have
identified feasible emission scenarios that could keep carbon dioxide
below levels that some scientists have called dangerous for climate.

When and how global oil production will peak has been debated, making it difficult to anticipate emissions from the burning of fuel and to precisely estimate its impact on climate. To better understand how emissions might change in the future, Pushker Kharecha and James Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York considered a wide range of fossil fuel consumption scenarios. The research, published Aug. 5 in the American Geophysical Union’s Global Biogeochemical Cycles, shows that the rise in carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels can be kept below harmful levels as long as emissions from coal are phased out globally within the next few decades.

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