Climate Capsule Week of January 12

Economic Message of the Week
NWF Welcomes Obama's Green Economic Recovery Plan; Education Key Area For Investment

In detailing his economic recovery package, President-elect Barack Obama mentioned education as a key area for sustainable investment.

“To give our children the chance to live out their dreams…we will equip tens of thousands of schools, community colleges, and public universities with 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries,” Obama said.

Investments in education generate 23.1 jobs per $1 million in spending, nearly five times more jobs created than oil and natural gas sector spending, according to Robert Pollin, UMass Amherst Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute.

“The fate of our economy and environment hinge on how quickly we move to repower America with clean energy solutions,” said Larry Schweiger, President & CEO, National Wildlife Federation. “Economic stimulus investments in education and training are among the most effective for short-term job creation and sustained, across-the-board economic growth.”

NWF recently held a telephone press conference with a panel of experts, including UMass Amherst’s Robert Pollin, to discuss the numerous shovel-ready investments available right now. See details on green education investments for short-term job creation and sustained, across-the-board economic growth on the fact-sheet “Green Education, Green Jobs, Green Schools”. To obtain an audio file or transcript of the teleconference, contact Aileo Weinmann at 202-797-6801.

“J.F.K. took us to the moon. Let B.H.O. take America back to school,” economist and NWF Conservation Achievement Award winner Thomas Friedman wrote in the New York Times this week, in an op-ed that emphasized to Barack H. Obama the bang-for-your-buck potential offered by green education investments.

Blood Tests Prove Arctic Polar Bears Going Hungry

Western Arctic polar bears are finding it increasingly challenging to find food during the critical spring period, a recently completed study suggests.

The study was done by University of Alberta and Environment Canada scientists. Seth Cherry and Andrew Derocher concluded these polar bears are going hungry, by comparing blood samples taken from polar bears in 1985-86 to samples taken 20 years later, when Arctic sea ice was at or near record lows.

The scientists measured the ratio of urea to creatinine— waste materials found in bears that are byproducts of metabolism—to determine whether an animal is fasting.

Mature males often fast in the spring season, so it is of no surprise to find some polar bears were not eating for considerable periods of time.

The new blood samples, however, showed a sharp increase in the number of bears that were fasting, and of the length of time of each fast.

"The large-scale changes to Arctic marine ecosystems that have occurred since the beginning of this study appear to be affecting the hunting success of polar bears in the Beaufort Sea," Cherry said.

Quote:

“It's time to create the clean-energy age. My goal is now to create an energy policy that creates millions of new jobs in the United States.”

—Rep. Edward Markey, who was recently named chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment.

Highlight of the Week
Canada’s Forests Now Give Off More CO2 Than They Suck Up

In a recent series of studies, scientists determined that Canada’s vast forests are so stressed from damage caused by global warming, insect infestations and persistent fires that they now pump out more carbon dioxide than they take in.

Canada's 1.2 million square miles of forests make up more than 7 percent of Earth's total forest lands and have been dubbed the "lungs of the planet" because they suck in vast quantities of carbon dioxide, cleansing the atmosphere of some of the planet’s harmful emissions.

However, rising temperatures are slowly drying out forests, leaving trees more susceptible to wildfires, which release huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, Canadian officials say. See NWF’s report Increased Risk of Catastrophic Wildfires: Global Warming’s Wake-Up Call for the Western United States to learn more about the United States’ forest vulnerability.

Global warming also accelerates the spread of deadly pine beetle infestations, which have devastated thousands of square miles of Canadian forest lands. Milder winters have tampered with the planet’s natural balance system, and the beetles aren’t guaranteed to held in check by the cold anymore.

Bush Moves To Increase U.S. Influence In Arctic

The outgoing Bush Administration is preparing a directive to federal agencies that would lay the groundwork for allowing the United States to assert greater control over the Arctic region, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The expected directive will call on federal agencies to more clearly define the Arctic region and its seabed over which the nation could lay claim. Commercial interests in the Arctic have increased since global warming has shrunk sea ice in the region, exposing potential shipping routes, oil fields and mineral deposits.

The region is estimated to contain more than one fifth of the world's undiscovered, recoverable oil and natural-gas resources, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey.

“The purpose of the Arctic policy is to recognize that the U.S. has important and strategic interests in the Arctic region,” White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told the Wall Street Journal.

“Many countries have been aggressively pursuing their interests in the Arctic…The U.S., as an Arctic nation, has competitive interests in the region, and we need to be a player there along with all the other arctic nations.”

Happening This Week

Tuesday, January 13: Senate Energy Committee Hearing on Nomination of Steven Chu to Be Energy Secretary, 10 a.m., 366 Dirksen

Briefing on the Strategic Role of States in Supporting Clean Energy, 2-3:30 p.m., 366 Dirksen

Wednesday, January 14: Senate Environment Committee Hearing on EPA and CEQ Nominations, 10 a.m., 406 Dirksen

Environmental and Energy Study Institute Briefing on Public Health, Climate Change, and Federal Transportation Policy, 1:30–3 p.m., 485 Russell

Thursday, January 15: Senate Energy Committee Hearing on Nomination of Ken Salazar as Interior Secretary, 9:30 a.m., 366 Dirksen