Top 2013 Environment Stories

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The following slides are based on John Uptons article:

The top 13 green stories of 2013: The good , the bad, and the muddled
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in Grist.org

The Good
#

Obama takes a shot for the environment

Unveiled an actual, coherent and clear climate plan

Regulations cracking down on coal-burning power plants Boosting renewables and energy efficiency

Components

of the plan

Cutting fossil fuel subsidies

Preparing for climate change thats already inevitable

The Good
#

People Power

People are standing up to fossil fuel interests

Delayed federal approval of the Keystone pipeline
`

Fracking moratorium or bans in 4 states

Fighting plans to build a coal export terminal

Convincing organization to dump fossil-fuel investments

The Good
#

Billionaire Backing

Tom Steyer, a hedge-fund manager turned climate activist, started spending big this year

Millions in political campaigns

Hosting an antikeystone ` conference

Fighting plans to build a coal export terminal

Teaming up with fellow rich guys!

Michael Bloomberg
7

Hank Paulson

Making the case that climate change threatens the entire global economy

The Good
#

Green energy taking off

Nuclear and coal languishing, solar and wind soaring

Nuclear and coal power plants being shuttered

Cost of green energy decreasing

The Good
#

Electric vehicles usage takes off

Sales have increased

6
7

fold in the last 2 years

Teslas Model S picked up many accolades, including the best Consumer Reports auto review of all time

The Bad
#

Boom in fossil fuel production

Politicians of all stripes favor fracking*

*

**

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside. ** In the process, water is wasted, chemicals used and the grounds are contaminated.

By the time Obama leaves office, the U.S. will be the worlds largest producer of oil and gas combined

The Bad
#

The climate is more screwed than ever

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere blew past 400 parts per million in May
(well above the pre-industrial level of 280 ppm)

International community is failing in its efforts to keep atmospheric warming below 2 degrees Celsius

Even though some scientists think that a 1 degree change could have disastrous consequences

The Bad
#

As oil production in North America ramped up, so did oil spills

Drill-happy state, North Dakota, kept hundreds of spills a secret

The Bad
#

US refineries are processing Canadian tar-sands oil and a dirty side effect is piles of dusty black residue called petroleum coke, or petcoke

This filth blows into nearby area polluting neighborhoods and This filth blows contaminating waterway.
into nearby areas polluting neighborhoods and contaminating waterways

Koch Industries has been buying up some petcoke and exporting them to countries with weaker airquality laws for use as powerplant fuel

The Bad
#

Big food corporations are winning the food labeling fight

(clearly label food as Genetically Modified Organism or not)

Going as far as to want to slap a natural label on foods containing GMOs

The Bad
#

Canada and Australia join the US on the climate shit list

U.S. has been the climate bad boy by backing out of the Kyoto Protocol and historically being the largest greenhouse gas polluter

Australian prime minister, climate denier Tony Abbott has moved to roll back the countrys climate programs

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper muzzled the climate scientists as he allows drillers free reign

The Muddled
#

California governor Jerry Brown supports both sides of the argument

Blamed climate change for the intense wildfires

For Climate

Signed legislation promoting solar power and cleaner cars

Under his watch, Californias new carbon-trading program got rolling

Borrowed from an environment fund to pay for other state programs

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Against

Climate
Made it clear that frackers are welcome to California

The Muddled
#

China wants its cake and wants to eat it too

China is the largest consumer of coal in the world

(Coal is the baddest of all the fossil fuels, double the emissions of natural gas)

Pollution is impacting air quality

(20 times above the normal, resulting in student outdoor activity being canceled, airports and roads closed)

On the plus side, China is making some real efforts to clean up its horrendous environmental mess

China started carbontrading programs in a number of cities

Officially dumped its growth at all costs philosophy

Image Credits:
Cleanwater.org WikiMedia Jackholes Realm WikiMedia Flickr 401K Isaac Brekken / Getty Images

Dmitry Kalinin Flickr

Jrgen / WikiMedia

Chris McKenna / WikiMedia

Cartype

Arne Hckelheim

Wind Future

United States Navy

Ekkehard Streit

Martin Nikolaj Bech

Menchi

Irene Immink

New Zealand Defence Force

Image Credits:
Romanm HuffPost Xinhuanet Sierra Culture HuffPost Dentistryiq

CEO.ca

Rtvslo

Andrew Testa

Thank you for reading!

Would love to hear your thoughts. Salah Khawaja s@decklaration.com

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Salahuddin Khawaja
s@decklaration.com +1 917 523 6904

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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