Event - CLE International’s California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Conference

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Conference for Attorneys and Practitioners will take place on December 4 – 5, 2014, at Hotel Nikko, in Union Square, San Francisco. Another year of significant CEQA legal, practice, and policy developments is coming to an end, including important court decisions, legislation, and guidelines amendments in process. Whether you are an attorney, planner, consultant, agency staff, or project applicant, CLE International’s 10th Annual CEQA Conference is designed to give you valuable, practical information on the timely CEQA topics that you can put to use immediately. Also, you can earn MCLE and AICP credits.

The Keynote speaker will be CalEPA Secretary Matt Rodriquez who will share thoughts about CalEPA activities affecting CEQA.

Event - Solar Canada 2014

Solar Canada 2014 will take place on December 8-9 in Toronto, Ontario. This event will be hosted by the Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA).

Event - Food Tank Summit

Food Tank, in partnership with The George Washington University, will hold its first Annual Food Tank Summit on January 21st and 22nd, 2015 at the Jack Morton Auditorium (former home to CNN's Crossfire) in Washington DC.

This two-day event will feature dynamic discussions with participants from around the world including more than 75 different expert speakers from the food and agriculture field.

Event - TechTrade 2015 Energy Expo

This 5 day event will take place from 28th January, 2015 to 1st February, 2015, in Ahmedabad ,Gujarat India, at AES Ground. TechTrade 2015 is the 2nd Edition of the Energy Show, it will offer an excellent opportunity for global Industries to meet with targeted visitors and sure buyers. There are a number of different branding options available including sponsorships and advertisement.

Event - Solar Energy Investment & Technology Forum 2014

This event will take place on November 14th 2014 in Bengalure. Solar Energy Investment & Technology will be hosted by UBM India, the organiser of Renewable Energy India Expo. The theme for this event is, "accelerating solar energy for growth of large and SME industries."

Video - Satellite Images Show Human Impacts Particularly in the Amazon Rainforest

Using satellite images from the last four decades we now have clear visual evidence of the impact of decades of human activity on the world’s ecosystems and the startling rates of environmental destruction. This is particularly true of the Amazon rainforest which is disappearing at an alarming rate to provide land for farming and raising cattle. This video is constructed from Landsat satellite imagery which provides critical scientific information about our changing planet.

For the interactive timelapse version of this tour, click here. and Google Earth Engine may have created the closest thing we have ever seen to a virtual time machine.

Video - Visual Evidence of Warming

This video supports a wide range of data that conclusively demonstrates that the Earth is warming. In this visualization we see how temperatures have risen from 1950 through the end of 2013. According to NASA scientists, 2013 was tied for the seventh warmest of any year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the 10 warmest years in the 133-year record all have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the hottest years on record.

Video - Stop the Energy East Pipeline

TransCanada is moving forward with the Energy East pipeline, one of the largest pipeline projects ever conceived. In addition to causing massive amounts of greenhouse gases, the plan imperils Canadian waterways. Find out more by clicking the links below.

Video - Remembering Haiyan and Working for Climate Justice

One year ago today, November 8, 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever to hit land, devastated the Philippines. Powerful winds and seven meter high storm surges killed as many as 7,300 people and forced a million families from their homes. A year later thousand of people are still homeless.

Environmental Leaders Comment on the Energy East Pipeline

Environmental organizations in Canada and the United States, First Nations and community organizers are resolute in their opposition to TransCanada's Energy East pipeline. Here are some of the comments made by their leaders.

Cities In Ontario and Quebec Opposing Energy East

 Municipalities situated near the proposed corridor are opposing the Energy East Pipeline. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his minions at the National Energy Board (NEB) have been doing everything they can to fast track tar sands development. This includes preventing communities from contributing to the review.

The only exception is the Northern Ontario town of Mattawa which signed what amounts to a gag order in 2012. TransCanada Corp, the builders of the Energy East pipeline, gave the town of Mattawa a $30,000 rescue vehicle on the condition that they take a vow of silence.

One of the clauses in the agreement reads as follows:

Environmental Action Opposing the Energy East Pipeline

People from across the continent were already actively engaged in protest even before the application for the Energy East pipeline was submitted by TransCanada on October 30th. According to the National Energy Board's (NEB) rules there will be a 15 month period for review.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has excluded climate science and communities from contributing to the pipeline review process in an effort to fast track tar sands development. However, this has only emboldened opposition to the pipeline. When the NEB announced that it will not consider the climate impacts or community voices in its assessment more than 50,000 people sent letters of protest.

The Energy East Pipedream

If it is built the Energy East pipeline would be the largest fossil fuel pipeline in North America. This monster pipeline would snake 4,000 km from terminals at Hardisty, Alta. and Moosomin, Sask. to refineries in Montreal, the Quebec City region and Saint John, N.B. In addition to posing local risks to drinking water, ecosystems and toursim Energy East would spur further tar sands development and lead to a major increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

Republican Climate Deniers are in Control

In the wake of the 2014 midterms, some of the most environmentally backward people in the United States have taken control of the world's most powerful legislatures. A similar situation arose in 2010, but it is even worse in 2014.

Three Republicans in particular stand out for the gulf that separates them and their responsibilities.

Mitch McConnell, that coal loving Senator from Kentucky is now the Senate majority leader. He will serve as the chief Senate spokesperson for Senate Republicans and he will manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate. He will have priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate

The new Senate Energy and Commerce Committee chair is as close to the fossil fuel industry as you can get with your clothes on. Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is even more favorably predisposed to the oil industry than here predecessor.

The Arsenal Republicans will use in their War on Climate

There are a number of weapons that the GOP will use in their war against climate protections. The planning has already begun as the new slate of Republican legislators and governors prepare to be sworn in in January. Here is the array of resources each side has in its arsenal.

Republicans are already zeroing in on targets. They will try to pass legislation that eliminates climate change mitigation efforts and environmental protections. The right to filibuster and a Presidential Veto are all that stands in the way of the GOP's legislative assaults. When the Democrats avail themselves of their only option or the President uses his veto, Republicans can be expected to wreak bloody havoc.

For starters the GOP can block all of the President's nominees. They can defund federal agencies like the EPA. They can shut down government by refusing to approve a budget (Republicans have already done this in the past so there is no reason to believe that they would not do it again). They could even trigger the "nuclear option" of a global financial collapse by breaching the debt ceiling and defaulting on the US national debt.

Infographic - Global Carbon Budget

GOP Identifies Targets for their Impending War Against Climate Protections

When the new slate of GOP candidates take office in January they will make good on their threats to go to war against climate protections.

Now that Republicans control both houses of Congress and have won governorships in blue states like Maryland, Massachusetts, and Illinois, we can expect them to wage a holy war against the climate.

Make no mistake about it, these are some of the most climate hostile governors and the most anti-environment Congress in US history.

Infographic - Midterms 2014: Issues and Social Media Use

Climate Denying Koch Friend Wins Senate Seat in Iowa

Republican Joni Ernst has won a seat in the Senate representing Iowa. She defeated her Democratic opponent, Rep. Bruce Braley. Ernst is a Tea Party supporter and a climate change denier and friend of the Koch brothers. She also wants to close the Environmental protection agency while dismissing Agenda 21 as a conspiracy that would undermine civil liberties.

Mixed Green Results in Florida Midterms

Florida's Republican Governor Rick Scott beat Democrat Charlie Crist while Steve Southerland lost his bid to keep his seat in the US House of Representatives.

Both Scott and Southerland are unfriendly towards environmental issues and climate concerns. The very fact that such politicians were vying for office in Florida is rather ironic given that this state will be one of the worst hit by flooding and extreme weather associated with climate change.

Environment and Climate Win Senate Race in Michigan Midterms

Climate change and environmental concerns were important issues in the Michigan midterms and they may well have been the deciding factors in the race for the Senate. On Novmeber 4th, Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) trounced the Republican candidate, former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land by 14 percentage points.

Concerns about the Great Lakes were on top of voter priorities. This concern is driven by a number of environmental calamities including oil spills, most notably the rupture of Enbridge Line No. 6 into the Kalamazoo River (the largest inland oil spill in US history) and the 2014 refinery spill on Lake Michigan. It was also about the Koch brothers three-story high pile of petroleum coke that poisoned the air and the Detroit River.

Midterm 2014: Fossil Fuels Win and Climate Loses

The US midterm results are in and fossil fuels have won big while efforts to combat climate change are dealt a serious blow. With 52 seats, Republicans have won the Senate and they now control both chambers of Congress. This will make passing President Obama's legislative agenda, which was already very difficult, nearly impossible. Here are 10 likely energy and climate consequences of Republicans advances in the 2014 midterms:

Louisiana Midterms have Serious (Solar) Energy Implications

The oil and gas lobby wields tremendous power in Louisiana, but renewable forms of energy are increasingly popular. The outcome of the election in Louisiana will have a significant impact on the future of solar in the state, it will also decide who Heads the Energy and Natural Resource (ENR) Committee.

The Senate race in Louisiana between Rep. Bill Cassidy and Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu will determine who heads the ENR Committee in 2015. Landrieu is the current panel chairman, and while she went into the election in the lead, she will have difficulty winning what will likely be a runoff if neither candidate gets 50 percent of the vote.

At the same time as they decide who will hold the gavel on the ENR committee, Louisiana voters will also decide who heads the state's Public Service Commission (PSC). At stake is whether of not the state will heed growing public demand for clean renewable energy. Louisiana is one of only two states that both directly elects its commissioners and gives the PSC direct legislative authority. The person who gets elected will decide the future of rooftop solar in the state and have a major impact on one of the fastest growing solar markets in the US.

Midterms 2014: Five Good News Stories for the Climate and the Environment

For those who are looking for progress on climate and energy legislation in the US, there is little good news as the GOP appears poised to make advances in the 2014 midterms. If the polls prove to be accurate, Republicans will increase their hold on the House of Representatives and gain control of the Senate. Nonetheless, here are five good news climate stories in this election cycle.

1. Climate change has emerged as a more important issue than in previous elections. According to the New York Times, climate and energy issues now rank in the top three issues mentioned in electoral ads. Climate change has been a common question raised in debates across the US and politicians in some vulnerable parts of the country are taking heat for ignoring the issue.

2. Environmental groups are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their approach to campaign finance. Rather than just supporting Democrats with a clean voting record, they are investing in some Republican candidates who are favored to win and who may be able to play a role in brokering bipartisan environment, climate and energy legislation.

Midterms 2014: Energy an Issue in Swing States

In the 2014 election cycle Energy is an important issue in swing states. However, do not expect these states to vote for champions of clean renewable energy. Instead swing state voters are likely to throw their support behind candidates who advocate for good old fashioned oil and gas.

According to survey results, voters in five swing states indicate that energy is a higher priority issue than environmental protection and climate change. The survey by Hart Research Associates for the League of Conservation Voters, NextGen Climate Action and NRDC Action Fund found that 56 percent had heard about candidates’ positions on energy issues. Energy ranked fourth behind abortion, jobs, the economy and healthcare.

Infographic: Solar and Wind Jobs

Midterm 2014: Short Term Economic Concerns Trump Environmental Issues

Although climate advocacy groups have worked hard to make environmental issues and clean energy a priority, recent polls suggest it has not worked. Climate change is being trumped by short economic concerns. It would appear that American voters are more concerned about things like the short term price of gas than they are about climate change.

During the period between October 20 to 26, Senate campaign TV advertisements were dominated by energy and the environment. There were more TV ads on energy and the environment than ads about Obamacare, immigration, government spending. Of the almost 15,000 ads that aired 55 percent favored Republicans and 45 percent favored Democrats.

The number of such ads suggest that environment and energy ads are creeping into the conversation. "That’s one signal that energy and environmental issues are a part of the conversation, though obviously the economy and jobs is the lead with voters," noted Daniel Weiss, the senior vice president for campaigns with the League of Conservation Voters.

Midterm 2014: Republican's Climate Ignorance Poised to Win the Day

Climate change may be an irrefutable fact but not for Republicans who brag about their scientific ignorance. Make no mistake about it, this is all part of their denial strategy. Their clever denial strategies are helping them make inroads in the forthcoming midterms. On November 5, we will likely see even more climate deniers take control of the world's most powerful legislature. A number of recent polls suggest that the GOP will take control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Being a climate legislation obstructionist, is the key to securing massive infusions of cash from the fossil fuel industry. In this electoral cycle it is estimated that 4 billion will be spent most of which will go to GOP candidates.

Infographic - Climate Finance vs Fossil Fuel Subsidies: National Comparisons

Environmental Alliances in the 2014 Midterms

The US midterms are right are around the corner, but an analysis of environmental alliances shows the situation is far more complicated in 2014 than it was in previous election cycles. As the political theater unfolds, the clock is ticking down and we are rapidly running out of time to curb emissions and reign in climate change.

While some things have changed in 2014, others remain the same. Perhaps the biggest change involves the shift in strategy by a number of environmental groups. In some states, denying climate change is no longer a politically safe strategy. However, in other states, blocking action on climate change is the only way to get elected. One predictable staple of the 2014 midterms involves the oil industry’s support for climate denying Republican candidates.

Event - QUEST 2014

QUEST2014 will take place on December 1-3, 2014 in Vancouver, British Columbia. This event will be hosted by Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow.

Program Highlights

Event - Wind Turbine Optimization, Maintenance and Repair Summit

The first annual Wind Turbine Optimization, Maintenance and Repair Summit, will take place on 8th-9th December, 2014 at the Westin Prince in Toronto Canada.

For 5 consecutive years, the Wind Energy Operations and Maintenance Series has been the central meeting point for the North American and European wind industries, making it the only place for you to meet, network and do business with the key O&M individuals. It is now recognized as the Americas most reputable and rewarding commercial business forum. 

Event - International Water Summit (IWS)

The third International Water Summit (IWS 2015) will be held from 19-22 January, 2015 in Abu Dhabi at the National Exhibition Centre. This summit seeks to accelerate the commercialization of innovative water technologies.

The International Water Summit 2015 brings people together sharing knowledge and understanding, pursuing a vital cause, becoming a forum for leadership at the highest level and enabling lucrative opportunities and deals to take shape.

Event - CBSR Summit: The Transformational Company

The 12th Annual CBSR Summit - The Transformational Company will take place on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 (8:00 am - 7:00 pm) at the Daniels Spectrum building in Toronto, Ontario. They will build on last year's Summit where they introduced the Transformational Company Framework and how it is applied. They will look more closely at how Corporate Responsibility teams are aligning with Human Resources, Finance, Communications and Brand Managers to drive business value while scaling up their efforts to address systemic societal risks and challenges.

Event - Sustainable Supply Chain Summit

The 9th Annual Sustainable Supply Chain Summit will take place on November 19-20, Tower Bridge Hilton, London, UK. It will help you address the biggest supply chain challenges and leverage supply chain opportunities. It will provide with the best practice on extractives, FMCG, apparel, chemical industries and more.

In the face of increasing resource scarcity and pressing environmental regulations, business needs to step up and innovate across its value chain to secure operations midterm.. Highlights include:

Video - Climate Change: The Disease and the Cure

Our unrelenting use of fossil fuels is pushing us dangerously close to the tipping point in the world’s climate system. A set of positive feedbacks in the climate systems are pushing us forward on a perilous trajectory. Examples include the Albedo Effect, water vapour from evaporation, both land and sea go from being carbon sinks to being sources of carbon. less absorption of CO2 in the sea and on land. Plankton, ocean waters and terrestrial plants absorb less CO2 and microorganisms emit more. Forests will dry up and burn more easily adding additional carbon.

Video - Solutions: Green World Rising (Part 3 of 3)

Green World Rising is the 3rd film in the series. We have the solutions, knowledge, and ingenuity needed to help save our planet. We can end our use of fossil fuels and combat climate change by putting a price on carbon. See some of the new solar, wind, and geothermal industries that are at the forefront of creating a greener world for all of us.

Video - Methane: Green World Rising (Part 2 of 3)

This film is called "Last Hours" it is the 2nd film in the Green World Rising Series. It describes a science-based climate scenario where a tipping point to runaway climate change is triggered by massive releases of methane. Currently vast quantities of methane are frozen underground, but as the world warms it could be released and this could push us beyond dangerous tipping points from which we could not recover.

Video - Carbon: Green World Rising (Part 1 of 3)

This is the first film in the Green World Rising Series. The film is narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, and supported by his foundation. Green World Rising has created a series of videos designed as a call to save the human race from the devastating effects of global warming and climate change.

Related
Climate Documentary from Leonardo DiCaprio: Before the Flood (Video)
Leonardo DiCaprio's environmental doc 'The 11th Hour'
Is Celebrity Environmental Advocacy Counterproductive?
Leonardo DiCaprio's Address at the UN Climate Summit
DiCaprio's Climate Focused Oscar Speech

Video - Midterms 2014 and Republican Climate Denial

The ignorance displayed in this video would be amusing if it were not representative of the views of a large number of Republicans seeking office in the forthcoming midterms. The scientific evidence behind climate change may be clear but Republicans continue to play politics. Their self serving political opportunism may play well with some constituents but their utter absence or responsible leadership imperils the future for us all.