Environmental Stories to Watch: 2009 Jonathan Lash World Resources Institute February 20, 2009 Global Vision for a Sustainable Earth Practical Solutions for People

The Financial Crisis is Topic A

#$%!

Beth Rooney for The New York Times People Are Angry

How Green Is Our Stimulus?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123448815417580333.html

http://www.coal-is-dirty.com/files/images/blogentry/wind-power.jpg http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/geothermal-power-project-wairakei-nz693.jpg Geothermal heating/cooling = 0.5-2 U.S. cents/kilowatt-hour On-shore wind = 5-8 U.S. cents/kilowatt-hour Concentrating solar thermal power = 12-18 U.S. cents/kilowatt-hour http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3791

Will Congress Answer The 6 billion Ton Question?

Source : IPCC AR4

“ Delay is no longer an option.” “… start with a federal cap and trade system …[with] annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them an additional 80 percent by 2050.” http://www.barackobama.com/photos/

Climate Bills 2006

2 Years Later

http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/coal12.jpg

“ Gang of 16” Democrats Carl Levin & Debbie Stabenow (MI) Robert Byrd & John D. Rockefeller IV (WV) Blanche Lincoln & Mark Pryor (AR) Jim Webb (VA) Evan Bayh (IN) Claire McCaskill (MO) Sherrod Brown (OH) Benjamin Nelson (NE) Jeff Bingaman (NM) Kent Conrad & Byron Dorgan (ND) Ken Salazar (CO) Tim Johnson (SD) Data from Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) http://cait.wri.org/

States where Coal is 60% or more of electricity fuel mix C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Data from Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) http://cait.wri.org/

States with the lowest average electricity costs* C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C *refers to states whose residents pay 7 Cents or lower retail per Kilowatt hour Data from EIA Data from Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) http://cait.wri.org/

Blame China? Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP Cyclists pass a factory in Yutian in China's north-west Hebei province.

China – Priority Or Problem ?

FIRST TRIP AGENDA IN CHINA, JAPAN, KOREA, & INDONESIA

Source: WRI/www.cait.org Source: WRI/www.cait.org Emissions: China United States

Minister of National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Ping at a press conference in Beijing on November 27.[china.org.cn] NDRC reveals details of stimulus package Source: China Daily 11-27-2008 16:58

Big Bust For Bad Wood ?

State of the World’s Forests Intact - 21% Working - 32% Lost - 47% Areas with weak forest governance & probability of illegal logging is highest Source: WRI

Ikonos image – Cameroon Cloud Illegal logging road Wetland area

Ikonos image – Cameroon Cloud Illegal logging road Wetland area Fallen tree

Ikonos image – Cameroon Cloud Illegal logging road Wetland area Fallen tree

What Can’t Be Sustained Won’t Be Source: WRI, CAIT http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/uba-info-e/wah20-e/1-2.htm

www.wri.org