Karla L. Chaffee

December 8, 2007

If We Were All More Like Iceland. . .

Diplomats from nations across the globe are meeting this week in Bali, Indonesia to discuss the how the world should address global climate change on the brink of the Kyoto Protocol' expiration in 2012. Meanwhile, Iceland is urging heavy industry, like the aluminum smelting industry, which currently uses two percent of all electricity generated in the world, to ship their rare materials to Iceland for processing. How will this reduce global emissions you say? Well, Iceland is busting with clean, geothermal energy, supplied by sub-surface, hot-steam-producing volcanoes. Proponents of Iceland processing see new industry as a source of carbon-friendly economic development, while opponents decry the impact new processing plants will have on Iceland's landscape.

Richard Harris, Lured By Clean Energy, Industry Heads For Iceland, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16836510 (last visited Dec. 6, 2007).

Use of GMO Seeds Suspended in France

On Thursday, December 6, France formally suspended the use of genetically modified (GMO) seeds until February 9. By this time, a government committee will have completed a study on the health and environmental effects of using GMO seeds, which are reliant on technology developed by the Monsanto Bio-tech firm. However, this temporary ban came into effect on the same day Germany announce they have lifted a similar ban in their country.

Tamora Vidaillet & Valerie Parent, France Suspends Commercial GMO Seed Use, Studies Safety, http://www.enn.com/agriculture/article/26712 (last visited Dec. 6, 2007).

The U.S. Is One Step Closer to Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The Environment and Public Works Committee Senate Committee passed a bill designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. seventy percent from 2005 levels by 2050. The bill is structured by a cap and trade system where industry may buy and sell permits which allow a certain level of pollution emission. The measure passed by an eleven-to-eight vote and is sure to raise much debate in the near future.

John M, Broder, Senate Panel Passes Bill to Limit Greenhouse Gases, N.Y. Times, Dec. 6, 2007, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/washington/06energy.html.

Siberian Permafrost Melting

A climate scientist reports that an area in Siberia, larger than France and Germany combined, is starting to thaw. Loss of this permafrost layer is exposing massive peat bogs, which release methane gas, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Scientist expect that this thaw will lead to even greater increases in the earth's temperature and have referred to the event as an "ecological landslide."

Ian Sample, Warming Hits "Tipping Point," http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/aug/11/science.climatechange1 (last visited Dec. 6, 2007).

Iron Dumping Prevents Global Warming?

Phytoplankton love eating carbon dioxide: Phytoplankton bloom when you dump iron fillings in the ocean. Are iron-induced phytoplankton blooms the answer to our global climate challenge? Columbia University scientist Bob Anderson thinks it may be part of the solution, claiming that perfectly planted phytoplankton blooms can reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to ten percent.

The Bryant Park Project, Crazy Plan for Carbon Pollution Just Might Work, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyID=16869232 (last visited Dec. 6, 2007).