Global Warming News Briefs

CA-CP Campus Partners Move Forward on Climate Action

Middlebury College’s Board of Trustees have adopted a resolution, “Middlebury College’s Commitment to Carbon Reduction,” proclaiming, “The Trustees of Middlebury College therefore support carbon reduction as a priority of the Middlebury College community, recognizing that it will require a commitment of resources to achieve necessary technological and behavioral shifts.” Meanwhile, Eastern Connecticut State University’s President David Carter signed the Talloires Declaration following the development and use of a Campus Sustainability Assessment Questionnaire indicating support. For more information about campus climate action, visit CA-CP’s website.

New Jersey Classes Carbon Dioxide as a Pollutant

In a move that simultaneously allows NJ to join the Northeast’s new Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and sends a policy message, Governor McGreevey has announced plans to classify CO2 as a pollutant—making it subject to regulation. More from the New Jersey Star Ledger.

New York Adopts 25% Renewable Portfolio Standard

The New York Public Utilities Commission voted this month to adopt the 25% minimum requirement for power generated by renewable sources in the state, proposed by Governor Pataki in 2003. Learn more…

Rhode Island to have New Tidal Energy Project

Plans are underway to build the first offshore underwater tidal power project, to supply electricity to the mainland U.S. The $3.5 million project is being backed financially from the three N.E. states to receive power from it. More from the U.S. Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy…

Save Our Crustaceans

Recent news about lobsters and global warming is serious - and not just for seafood-lovers.

Could Warming Mean More Hurricanes?

There has been a lot of recent buzz about the role global warming plays or could play in the occurrence of more active, more destructive hurricane seasons. Read what National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration scientists have to say on the subject.

Power Plant Pollution a “Public Nuisance”

New York state, New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, California, Wisconsin and Iowa are all part of a class action lawsuit filed in July against the nation’s five largest power plants. They are suing not for damages but for increased emissions control, to help protect public health and well-being. Learn more from the New York Times or National Public Radio.

A Hot Topic

Did you catch the recent global warming feature stories by Business Week and National Geographic? Also check out the American Radioworks documentary Climate of Uncertainty airing on NPR this month, or the July story in American Gardener, based on a symposium co-organized last fall by CA-CP, Cornell University and the American Society of Horticultural Scientists.