Minn. lawmaker: No bottled water for state workers | StarTribune.com

Democratic state Rep. Paul Gardner of Shoreview says he doesn't want the bill to become law, but hopes to catch the attention of lawmakers about state spending on bottled water.

Gardner estimates it costs the state a $1 a gallon for bottled water when tap water is available. He says the state should cut unnecessary costs in tough economic times.

[Did we say that the cap and trade swindle will prevent hurricanes? We meant it will prevent terrorism]

In a series of hard-hitting television ads, a liberal veterans advocacy organization challenges Republican lawmakers for blocking clean energy legislation that would cut oil funds to terrorists.

"Green Police" Ad to air during Super Bowl

Watch the Audi commercial featuring Cheap Trick, the Green Police, and the Audi A3 TDI® clean diesel, Green Car Journals 2010 Green Car of the Year®.

When Windmills Don’t Spin, People Expect Some Answers - NYTimes.com

One problem, though: The windmills, supposed to go online this winter, mostly just sat still, people in cities like North St. Paul and Chaska said, rarely if ever budging. Residents took note. Schoolchildren asked questions. Complaints accumulated.

[Fraudsters]: Arctic climate changing faster than expected | Reuters

"(Climate change) is happening much faster than our most pessimistic models expected," said David Barber, a professor at the University of Manitoba and the study's lead investigator, at a news conference in Winnipeg.

Models predicted only a few years ago that the Arctic would be ice-free in summer by the year 2100, but the increasing pace of climate change now suggests it could happen between 2013 and 2030, Barber said.
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Climate change is also bringing more cyclones into the Arctic, dumping snow on the sea ice, which limits how thick it can get, and bringing winds that break up the ice, Barber said.

The study is part of the International Polar Year, a large scientific program focused on the Arctic and Antarctic. The scientists have not yet produced conclusions, but they expect to publish dozens of academic papers.

The cost of the Arctic's rapid melt will be $2.4 trillion by 2050 as the region loses its ability to cool the global climate, the U.S.-based Pew Environment Group said on Friday. The group released a report showing the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet.

Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis: Cool temperatures over most of the Arctic Ocean; 69,000 more square miles of ice than four years ago

Arctic sea ice extent averaged for January 2010 was 13.78 million square kilometers (5.32 million square miles). This was 1.08 million square kilometers (417,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average for January, but 180,000 square kilometers (69,000 square miles) above the record low for the month, which occurred in January 2006.