http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news.html News from the Nicholas Institute of Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University en-us http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/12/11/article/editorial_minding_nc_s_spigot Why, when the skies are gray and the December chill conjures visions of anything but parched lake beds and sun-baked clay, would anyone want to talk about ... water shortages? http://www.reflector.com/news/state/a-sampling-of-editorials-from-nc-newspapers-288294.html A sampling of editorials from NC newspapers. http://www.ncnn.com/content/view/3672/26/ An environmental policy analyst recommended to a commission on climate change that the state expand green energy projects quickly. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/402179.html Advocates, officials say water-use regulations needed to get Catawba off endangered list. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/207705.html For 18 months Charlotteans have put up with drought, brown lawns and water restrictions. Now comes the hard part. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1325384.html A UNC-Duke study recommends steps the state should take to avoid water shortages in the future. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/12/06/mass_to_retrofit_hybrid_vehicle_fleet_to_plug_in/ 40 modifications planned after 1 Prius racks up the miles. http://nicholas.duke.edu/news/ns-energy.12.04.08.html When the 111th Congress convenes in January 2009, one of its top priorities will be to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation. A new policy brief by the Climate Change Policy Partnership (CCPP) at Duke University makes the case that increased investment in energy efficiency will play a critical role in mitigating carbon. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/World-Affairs-Council-Luncheon-Powering/story.aspx?guid=46CD3FDC-4EA7-4EB7-899F-BF358AC556B8 Energy is the political issue of the 21st century. It lies at the heart of our economy, foreign policy, environment, national security, and our system of education. http://energy.nationaljournal.com/2008/12/designing-a-green-energy-plan.php?rss=1 Last week, President-elect Obama announced plans for a massive new economic stimulus package that he said will include a plan to promote renewable energy and create green jobs. How would you design a green energy plan to meet those goals? http://www.newsobserver.com/100/story/1313496.html New reservoir's protection too lax, Raleigh leaders say. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97393883 Many environmental activists, scientists and business leaders worry that a recession and two wars will force President-elect Barck Obama to put his ambitious plans to tackle global warming on the backburner. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97412198 All the carbon dioxide pouring into the atmosphere is making the oceans more acidic — and those effects appear to be striking very close to home. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/406/story/357943.html Global warming and economy are twin ills, so address them together. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/269062.html Charlotte could save millions of dollars and billions of gallons a year by making more efficient use of its water, says a report to be released today. http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1219105.html In a campaign ad opposing him, Democratic congressional candidate Larry Kissell looks like he's standing on a dark and lonely stage as he declares his opposition to oil drilling off the coast of North Carolina. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-09-10-candidates-energy-policy_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip Record-high prices for gasoline, heating and electricity and growing concern about global warming have pushed energy issues to the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008171997_sept11oped11.html The 9/11 Commission Report declared that the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil represented a "failure of imagination" on the part of national security. The true threat to U.S. security, however, is not a failure of imagination but a "failure of adaptation." http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?episodeId=177159 http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1826813,00.html For a substance that is the basic building block of life as we know it — without it, our planet might be little more than a dull rock — carbon has gotten a bad rap lately. Bound to two atoms of oxygen, it creates carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas that has kept our planet warm for billions of years — and is now, thanks to human activity, making us too warm. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/31/AR2008053102471.html?hpid=moreheadlines When the Senate takes up landmark climate legislation this week, its backers can be sure of just one thing: The obstacles they face show how hard it will be to enact a meaningful cap on greenhouse gases -- probably under the next administration. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/12/politics/washingtonpost/main4086672.shtml In December 2005, Republicans were poised to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling, an achievement they had sought for decades. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had attached the provision to a must-pass defense spending bill and threatened to keep lawmakers in Washington until Christmas if they tried to strip it. Desperate to remove the provision, leaders from national environmental groups turned to a handful of key GOP senators for help. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1057954.html Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama support more aggressive efforts to curb global warming and federal spending to create green jobs. http://www.grist.org/feature/2008/04/18/nijhuis/?source=daily Marine biologist Raphael Sagarin has eclectic interests. During the course of his career, he's scoured an Alaskan gambling record for clues to climate change, retraced John Steinbeck's and Ed Ricketts' survey of the Sea of Cortez, and even studied how Easy Cheese escaped early chlorofluorocarbon regulations. In 2002, as a science fellow on Capitol Hill, he turned his biologist's eye to post-9/11 Washington, D.C., with its proliferating Jersey barriers and security checkpoints. http://www.charlotte.com/112/story/571429.html Even as they repealed the most severe water-use restrictions on residents and businesses, Raleigh officials said Monday that that water conservation will no longer be merely an occasional goal. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/ns-safetyvalve.html The staffs of two nonprofit groups with important roles in shaping the leading Senate global warming bill are suggesting a compromise that would bridge one of the measure's biggest sticking points -- the uncertainty over what the carbon emissions cap-and-trade system will cost the nation's economy. http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8725597 Death Valley-like daytime highs and hot nights in Utah and the West last summer reinforced the Southwest's status as ground zero for deadly global climate disruption, a new report says. http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080326/NEWS/803260400/1002/news06&title=Moore__Perdue_dodging_true_debate When they invited the leading Democratic candidates for governor to a water policy forum, organizers at Duke University hoped Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore would answer questions together on the same stage. Instead, Moore and Perdue appeared separately Tuesday, sitting at different times in the same red wing-back chair. The format provided more verbal artillery for Moore, who again accused Perdue of purposefully avoiding one-on-one debates in the final weeks of their high-stakes campaign. http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2008/03/26/News/Governor.Candidates.Debate.Water.Use-3284112.shtml Four of the 10 candidates for governor of North Carolina gathered in the Griffith Film Theater Tuesday to discuss an issue that many of the state's voters are talking about for the first time-water. http://www.newsobserver.com/weather/drought/story/1013377.html Candidates for governor were asked questions Tuesday about water and drought at a forum at Duke University. The questions touched on the legal, economic, environmental and political aspects of the state's water supply and the continuing drought. Two Democrats, one Republican and a Libertarian took the stage one at a time to face questions from a moderator. http://climateprogress.org/2008/03/12/the-history-of-the-safety-valve-debate/#more-2430 Congress’ effort to pass passing global warming legislation faces many sticking points, but few are as sticky — or as wonky — as the battle over whether a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions should include what is called a "safety valve." http://www.charlotte.com/business/breaking_news/story/519831.html With demand for water increasing as the drought and growth continue, some coastal counties in Eastern North Carolina are tapping a saltier source: rivers of brackish water that flow underground. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/962017.html It was the sort of gathering that would have been unthinkable just 10 months ago in pre-drought Raleigh. More than 200 residents from around the Triangle spent their Saturday morning listening and talking about water -- how it's consumed, managed and paid for. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-water.html "We'll get through it, but the era of cheap and abundant water is over." That was the assessment Sunday of expert Bill Holman in the aftermath of last year's drought and its effect on Durham's water supply. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-rafe-security.html Protection from terrorism is an unusual subject for a marine biologist to get involved with, but Raphael Sagarin has a special reason. He believes living things can show us how to keep society safe. He explains to John Whitfield why one look at natural systems will tell us that the war on terror is doomed to fail http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/story/920211.html A Raleigh City Council member's proposal for water impact fees should be part of any conservation-and-growth discussion. http://www.charlotte.com/409/v-print/story/381420.html We have all experienced drought pains this summer -- mandatory water restrictions, alarmingly low lake levels, and parched landscapes. It would be comforting to know that this summer's drought is an anomaly and we will not experience the hardships of drought again for years to come. Unfortunately, research is forecasting the opposite. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/daily/20071125_Digging_in_to_cool_the_planet.html Planting a tree used to be such a simple thing. For many, it was a simple act of beautification. Or perhaps a way to shade a patio. But lately, planting a tree has been elevated to a cause, a mission, a step - however tiny, as skeptics note - to stall global warming. http://www.charlotte.com/local/v-print/story/367803.html N.C. ski resort operators say the ongoing drought doesn't change how they operate. None of them rely on the wet stuff from the sky, otherwise known as natural snow, no matter the year. Snowmaking requires water, but several resorts said they maintain their own reservoirs fed by natural springs and melting snow reclaimed off the mountains. http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/772011.html Durham water bills almost certainly will be higher next year, as city officials must pay for pumps and pipes to connect to new water sources and offset the money lost when residents conserve. http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/351670.html Pouring dish and bath water over the Charlotte region's parched yards and wilting gardens is a popular way to fight the drought. It's also illegal.State law prohibits rerouting anything headed for the drain to the dry outdoors, even if it's something as simple as leftover water from half-empty glasses at the dinner table. http://www.charlotte.com/local/v-print/story/344841.html Dale Johnson first noticed them in August -- big tanker trucks stopping to fill up at a fire hydrant in his Providence Crossing neighborhood on N.C. 16, just before the Union County line. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6602.html After years of debates and documentaries, Congress is poised to address the issue of climate change. The Warner-Lieberman bill is the vehicle and it’s headed for a bumpy ride, as industries mobilize to set up roadblocks to stall or wreck the passage of legislation that could cost them millions. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/747408.html Easley's plea has residents struggling to figure out how to reduce consumption dramatically. http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/331526.html Drought conditions around Charlotte will likely trigger the severest water restrictions -- Stage 4 -- in three to six weeks, Duke Energy predicted Tuesday. http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/330070.html Gov. Mike Easley asked North Carolinians on Monday to cut water consumption in half between now and Halloween, offering tips that included speedy showers and shallow dishpans. http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=275694 I remember the moment I learned to stopped worrying and love the drought.I was sitting on a bench in Linear Park downtown, looking at a water fountain that had no water. Earlier, I had passed a waterless water feature near the library. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/726889.html Drought's harshest hold now grips the Triangle and more than half of North Carolina's counties, increasing the likelihood of tougher conservation measures for homeowners and industry. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-capefear.html Projects are planned that would pull millions more gallons of water from the Cape Fear River in the near future. Some of it will fill water glasses in towns such as Cary, Dunn, Fayetteville and Sanford. Some of it will be used at the Smithfield Packing plant in Tar Heel to clean up after the slaughter of thousands of hogs every day. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-warming.html President Bush assured the rest of the world yesterday that he takes the threat of climate change seriously and vowed that the United States "will do its part" to reduce the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet, but he proposed no concrete new initiatives to reach that goal. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Green-MBAs.html Business professor John Stayton remembers when eyes would start rolling at the idea of a "green MBA." These days, business schools across the country are incorporating the environmental and social costs of doing business into their curricula and a few, like the program Stayton directs at Dominican University of California, aim for an all-green program. http://www.dailyreportonline.com/Editorial/News/print_article.asp?individual_SQL=9/20/2007@16724_Public_.htm There has been an "explosion of activity" on energy and climate change in the current Congress, according to Manik Roy, director of congressional affairs for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. "Climate change is an important issue in Congress." http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/article/20070916/NEWS/709160419/1017/SPORTS0701 The half-dozen broken trees and gnarled branches perched on top of the spillway seemed destined for the foamy water at the dam's base. But five minutes later, the debris was still rooted in place. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/califconstiution.pdf Climate change, like many environmental challenges, is a global problem requiring local solutions. While the United States has of yet not passed meaningful legislation that addresses climate change, several U.S. states are taking steps to reduce the carbon footprints of their industries and citizens. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/692277.html As North Carolina wilts for lack of rain, a group of Duke researchers is offering suggestions for better long-term water use. http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2007-09-06-0007.html Researchers at Duke University are calling for a unified approach to protecting our water supply. http://www.charlotte.com/opinion/story/265405.html When it comes to having enough water for our future, it's a matter of simple arithmetic, says a report from Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions: "By 2030, 12 million North Carolinians will demand use of the same water resources that served four million North Carolinians in 1960." http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=284392 Sen. Barbara Boxer had been chair of the Senate's Environment Committee for less than a month when the verdict landed last February. "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal," concluded a report by 600 scientists from governments, academia, green groups and businesses in 40 countries. Worse, there was now at least a 90 percent likelihood that the release of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels is causing longer droughts, more flood-causing downpours and worse heat waves, way up from earlier studies. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news.html This was to have been the year that that Congress finally took meaningful action to address the related problems of energy dependence and global warming. The new Democratic majority vowed to make these issues a top priority, President Bush spoke of ending America’s addiction to imported oil and industry groups promised to do their share to build a cleaner and more efficient future. http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/7/24/15505/0806 So you want to have greenhouse gas standards with teeth, but you want to minimize the risk they take too big a bite from the economy. And, of course, like me, you don't like the safety valve idea. What do you do? Banking and borrowing, of course. http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/070723cd1.htm The House and Senate turn their attention to spending for domestic security, law enforcement and public works this week, as the FY08 appropriations process lurches into an uncertain future. http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=106 I wouldn’t hold my breath on anything getting done about the atmosphere and climate change in the current configuration of power in Washington D.C. But there are some rumblings that may hint about the next phase of American politics. http://gristmill.grist.org/print/2007/7/25/01948/0376?show_comments=no As Joe mentioned yesterday, four moderate-to-conservative senators -- John Warner (R-Va.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) -- just proposed a measure to achieve "Cost-Containment for the Carbon Market." http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=41323 It seems everyone on Capitol Hill has a solution for dealing with global warming these days. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-climate2.html Four senators today offered a global warming bill that is intended to be less burdensome on business than a competing plan by fellow moderates. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-climate.html More than 125 bills, resolutions and amendments related to global warming and greenhouse gas emissions have been introduced in Congress so far this year, compared to just 106 in the previous two-year session of Congress, reports the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-senators-lieberman-warner-co2/story.aspx?guid={BEA01E4A-0213-4A61-93A8-40A156AC7449} The new cap-and-trade climate-change bill currently being drafted by U.S. Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., includes emergency 'offramps' to protect the economy if costs for cutting carbon dioxide rise too high. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4996468.html A bipartisan group of four senators who have never voted for climate-change legislation is proposing a plan to limit the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/health_science/story/637853.html Global warming is a big thing. The pine beetle is an exceedingly small thing. But when the two are combined, it means one thing for North Carolina's pine forests -- trouble. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/637672.html As part of the series on the current and potential effects of global warming on our state, The News and Observer asked Dr. Brian C. Murray, an economist at Duke University, to answer your questions about the economic consequences of a changing climate and the various costs and benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through public policies. Murray, director for economic analysis at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, has expertise in forestry, agriculture and energy. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/14/AR2007071401246.html Here's the good news about climate change: Energy and climate experts say the world already possesses the technological know-how for trimming greenhouse gas emissions enough to slow the perilous rise in the Earth's temperatures. http://deltafarmpress.com/news/070619-carbon-trading/ Whatever program or term is favored — carbon sequestration, offset credits, cap-and-trade — there remains a glaring problem with the practice of polluting companies buying greenhouse gas reduction credits from farmers and landowners. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/18/content_6259475.htm The first manual for farmers and foresters on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be available to Chinese users soon, a U.S. environmental protection NGO announced here on Monday. http://www.greenoptions.com/blog/2007/05/25/ecotality_carbon_sequestration_could_be_8b_business_for_agriculture It’s not going to be the most scintillating beachside reading this summer, but a new guide coming out in June from Duke University Press could help prevent rising seas from obliterating your favorite beach. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-guide.html As the White House outlined its greenhouse gas reduction goals, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University last week unveiled a new guide aimed at helping farmers participate profitably. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-bushgreenhousegas.html President Bush issued an executive order last week aimed at reducing domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to purported global climate change. That could both offer opportunities and pose new regulatory risks for producers. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-naturescarbonsink.html While the continents and oceans have absorbed much of the carbon dioxide that humanity has pumped into the atmosphere so far, they won't be able to keep up with the expected rise in greenhouse-gas emissions over the next several decades. Indeed, some recent studies suggest that current scientific estimates about natural absorption are too optimistic: Earth's climate by century's end could be on average up to 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F.) hotter than current "business as usual" projections suggest. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-greenglasses.html It's no longer news that "green" products and practices are good for the bottom line. But the days when "green" is only a garnish on the business plate might be ending. With the integration of greenhouse-gas emissions controls into our national economy seemingly inevitable, we may soon take our longest stride toward an inherently green and sustainable economy in American history. As a result, "green" increasingly is business, not just good for it. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-greentech.html In San Francisco last month, I found myself discussing the concept of carbon sequestration with my friend Kevin while he was giving his daughter Emma a bath. The fact that we were chatting about injecting carbon dioxide into untapped oil fields as we squirted water at a 2-year-old highlights just how trendy the U.S. green-tech market has become. Kevin is what you call a "serial entrepreneur," who spots business trends and invests in start-ups before selling them and moving on to the next promising venture. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-supremecourt.html Yesterdays Supreme Court ruling on carbon dioxide emissions largely shredded the underpinning of other lawsuits trying to block regulation of the emissions and gave new momentum to Congressional efforts to control heat-trapping gases linked to climate change. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-carbonworth.html If continuing discussion in Congress on climate change is solidified in legislation capping emissions, electricity rates would most likely spike. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-wisewater.html More people moving to North Carolina means more water usage in homes, businesses and industrial plants. North Carolina is, after all, sixth in growth rate in the United States, and water demand is expected to increase 35 percent by 2030, to 2.2 billion gallons a day. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-babbitt.html Planning could help North Carolina prepare for rising sea levels that are predicted as part of global climate change, Bruce Babbitt, a former secretary of the interior, said Thursday. Babbitt, who held the position in the Clinton administration, made his comments to a group meeting in Raleigh on the state's future water supply. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-bigbus.html Recent state actions to curb global warming are having a surprising effect: They are prompting big power companies and manufacturers to call on the Bush administration to mount a fight against climate change. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-boxer.html Among the most daunting hurdles facing Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) as she tries to craft legislation capping greenhouse gas emissions is the narrow level of support on her Environment and Public Works Committee. http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/news-holmaninterview.html Bill Holman has been at the center of N.C. environmentalism for more than a quarter-century. Holman worked for 18 years as an environmental lobbyist, later served as state environment secretary. He became executive director of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, which makes grants to protect the state's waters, in 2001. Last week, he joined Duke University as a visiting scholar at its Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.