Not that the principle of this is new, but in an effort to push forward a new global treaty on greenhouse gas emission reduction, the Stockholm Environment Institute has said that the United States, China, and other wealthy nations should be responsible for the majority of the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Bloomberg reports.

Wealthy Would Have to Pay For Poor Nations' Reductions
Under the proposal both national income and overall emissions would be considered when determining the level of carbon emission cuts a country would be required to make. Furthermore, wealthy nations would be obliged to do more than simply cut their own emissions, but would also be required to pay for emissions reduction projects in poorer nations.

Recent Comment by Ernie : "And they expect them to agree to this *how*?..." [read]

Image source: Rishi Tea

Its no surprise that Rishi Tea was the winner of seven First Place Awards at the 2008 Tea Championships for best tea, and to top it off was the first company to win the award making organic teas. Beating out 300 other brands, Rishi "rose to the top"

I drink a lot of tea though I'd hardly say I'm an expert or connoseur, but this was good tea. You crack open the lid and a strong, sweet smell of peppermint hits you. It doesn't smell like old, dead packaged tea, but smells like tea leaves that have been freshly picked. Brew a pot and you're equally rewarded.

Recent Comment by JSDreyer : "Usually the green tea that's marketed to the US market is poor quality compared to what..." [read]

Many of you have probably seen, heard or read about Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last night. For those who haven’t seen it and who have 45 minutes to spare, a video of the entire speech is embedded above. However for those with less time on their hands, here are the relevant portions in regards to what Mr Obama has said in regards to energy policy.

Recent Comment by TrollPatrol : "The environmental benefits of renewable energy are almost entirely inherent -- his ..." [read]

photo: Maki_C30D via flickr

With the recent sobering news that not only is the trend in the Arctic indicating that climate change is happening more quickly than models have indicated, but also that permafrost in the region contains significantly more greenhouse gases just waiting to be released as the region warms, it’s good to hear that at least one nation is increasing its efforts to get its own carbon emissions under a semblance of control.

27% Budgetary Increase For Climate Change Mitigation
Earlier this week, Japan announced that it will spend $4 billion in the next fiscal year on efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. This would be a 27% increase in monies spend to combat climate change, Blooomberg reports. In June, Japan’s prime minister pledged that the nation would reduce its carbon emissions by 60-80% from current levels by 2050.

Guest blogger Jesse McDougall delivers the eco-scoop, straight from the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The Democratic National Convention Goes Green
One of the very best aspects of the frenzy going on in Denver this week during the Democratic National Convention is the focus on green living. There are a good number of organizations out here promoting their "green" image. Coca-Cola has recycling trucks at strategic points around the hullabaloo. Pepsi is pushing a new "zero calorie, earth friendly" fizzy drink called Tava. And even the convention itself has placed volunteers around Denver helping people sort their waste into boxes labeled Landfill, Recycling, and, surprisingly, Compost.

Forgive me for my cynical eye, but when I see large corporations touting new green products, I am suspicious of greenwashing. Therefore, when I see an ACTUALLY green company promoting an ACTUALLY green service, I get excited...

In my last blog, I confessed my antipathy for camping. Today, I've got something a little hotter: two weeks ago, two Earthwatch colleagues and I took off our pants together behind the catering tent at a swanky cocktail party on the Charles River in Boston.

(Let me take this opportunity to issue our deepest apologies to the wait staff and to those unfortunate families touring the river on the famed Duck Boat tour that evening.)

What made the scene truly hot, I confess, wasn't our suite of Adonis-like attributes, but rather that we were doffing our trousers as part of Earthwatch's Beat the Heat Climate Change Campaign. We kicked off this two-month campaign (August 14-October 14) that night with a fundraiser at Boston's Museum of Science.

(Photo: Giuseppe Moretti from BeatScene Online)

Few people may have seen as much of this beautiful planet and also looked as deeply within for inspiration as poet Gary Snyder. When he won the 2008 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize earlier this summer I was deeply moved. Gary is known here in Japan for having practiced Zen with Isshu Miura at a temple in Kyoto (back when almost noone travelled to this side of The Pacific). He first arrived in 1956, and spent a decade studying, researching and translating Zen texts. He also spent six months travelling throughout Asia, where he had the honour of a meeting with the Dalai Lama, and travelled through India with other poets including Alan Ginsberg.

In his Pulitzer Prize winning Turtle Island (1974) he is a very global treehugger:

The poems speak of place, and the energy pathways that sustain life. Each living being is a swirl in the flow, a formal turbulence, a 'song.' The land, the planet itself, is also a living being - at another pace. Anglos, Black people, Chicanos, and others beached up on these shores all share such views at the deepest levels of their old cultural traditions - African, Asian or European. Hark again to those roots, to see our ancient solidarity, and then to the work of being together on Turtle Island.

Anyone see a long-term trend here? Besides the fact that the annual variation in underground natural gas storage volume is large, and seems correlated with temperate zone solar input. Who'd have thought that there'd be less stored this August than last?

Last winter was pretty cold in the northern US states. Could happen again.

Hurricane Gus is barreling across the US Gulf as we write; and natural gas is extracted offshore just as is oil. That could cut production/storage for a period. Just thinking. Bet those future marketeers are too.

The reduced storage might have to do with power generation moving away from coal and toward gas??? Via::EIA, Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report

Recent Comment by Anthony : "Thanks Raiyn, that was really useful. I didn't know where the naming system came from.<..." [read]