Topic: greenhouse gases

Trends to Watch is WRI’s annual forecast of emerging issues that will have major impacts on environmental coverage in 2008. On climate change: what will happen between COP-13 in Bali, and COP-14 in Poznan? What role will China play? Will we see new legislation and regulations from Congress or the EPA? Where will biofuels and technology go? Where will the water come from? WRI President Jonathan Lash makes his predictions at the National Press Club.

On November 15th, Governors of nine Midwestern U.S. states and the Premier of Manitoba signed the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord, a new agreement to establish regional goals and initiatives to increase energy security, promote renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

As lawmakers look to implement policies that will help reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, one technology they are considering is carbon capture and sequestration. But many technical and policy issues remain unresolved. In a new report and this E&E TV interview, John Venezia gives the lay-of-the-land on CCS. Read more.

34 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and 2 Native American nation establish a single, unified GHG emissions accounting system.

Two major global warming gases, methane and nitrous oxide, are emitted in large quantities by the U.S. agriculture industry (70% and 30% of total U.S. emissions, respectively). Conservation programs in the 2007 U.S. Farm Bill offer opportunities to decrease these emissions, as well as broadly address climate change. The technologies to mitigate GHG emissions exist, and farmers could stand to benefit from their implementation.

Move continues trend in financial institutions toward better accounting of environmental considerations.

Satellite measurements show that the meltdown of Greenland’s ice sheet is speeding up.