Coalition growing cooler towards climate policy

The significance of the Coalition promising to axe the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute becomes clearer when viewed with a wider lens - one that takes in its decision after the May budget to cut money from a host of other climate-change programs.

Among them was the carbon capture and storage flagships program - a fund dedicated to developing ''clean coal'' demonstration plants. It was stripped of $200 million.
...
Yet the world is stumbling towards limiting greenhouse gas emissions (albeit painfully slowly).  [This is clearly wishful thinking, as the world stumbles *away* from limiting greenhouse emissions.]

PostPartisan - Is Harry Reid 'cynical' on energy? Is the GOP? Both?

Can Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pass a big energy and climate bill before the end of the year, let alone before the Senate’s August recess? Increasingly, senators and Hill staffers say no, and they’re wondering why he would try.
...
A senior GOP staffer and others I’ve spoken to speculate that the Democrats might be less interested in actually passing the bill than in merely goading Republicans into voting against it.

Remembering a climate warrior

Long before the eruption of "Climategate," Stephen H. Schneider had taken up the cause of climate change, armed with the sword of his convictions and the shield of scientific data.   [and to prevent inconvenient questions, also the shield of armed UN security officers]

Cold snap freezes South America – beaches whitened, some areas experience snow for the first time in living memory

A brutal and historical cold snap has so far caused 80 deaths in South America, according to international news agencies. Temperatures have been much below normal for over a week in vast areas of the continent. In Chile, the Aysen region was affected early last week by the worst snowstorm in 30 years. The snow accumulation reached 5 feet in Balmaceda and the Army was called to rescue people trapped by the snow.