St. Paul's public works budget snowed under - TwinCities.com

One of the snowiest Decembers on record has forced St. Paul to overspend its Public Works budget by at least $1 million, city officials said Wednesday.

Snow emergencies break banks for Minneapolis and St. Paul | StarTribune.com

Minneapolis has outspent its snow and ice-clearing budget by more than 30 percent this calendar year, thanks to the third-snowiest December and third-snowiest autumn on record in the Twin Cities.

Sen. Robert Menendez: A Letter to Santa Claus

I am writing out of concern, because you may have to move from the North Pole due to the dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice. The Navy's chief oceanographer says that by the summer of 2020 the North Pole may not have summer ice and other scientists project that an ice-free Arctic is possible as soon as 2012!

BBC News - Biochar: Running the numbers

"I said in my recent book that perhaps the only tool we had to bring carbon dioxide back to pre-industrial levels was to let the biosphere pump it from the air for us," the originator of the Gaia concept told The Guardian newspaper last year.

"We don't need plantations or crops planted for biochar, what we need is a charcoal maker on every farm so the farmer can turn his waste into carbon."

Trendspotting: the next big sustainability issues | Guardian Sustainable Business | guardian.co.uk

Climate change scepticism: will science strike back?

2010 was the Year of the Sceptics. By contrast, 2011 could just see the triumph of science, for two reasons.

First, the facts are increasingly stark. 2010 looks set to equal or exceed 1998 as the warmest year on record.
...
Second, in the wake of Climategate, scientists are realising that pure research ain't enough: they need to communicate much better, too – and engage openly with their adversaries. The more that happens, the more threadbare the rhetoric of denial will appear.
...For years, advocates of bold action on carbon cuts have argued that energy insecurity strengthens their case. That'll be harder to maintain now that shale gas has entered the mix. Not only is it relatively cheap, but there is a truly humungous amount of it in the USA.

The science may be settled, but the coming year will show that the debate is far from over.