Weather, Water, Energy 4-27-07

• Don't worry about oil and engines? It's the plants and trees that do the most greenhouse gas emissions? . . . Uh, no.
• Australia disses Kyoto but will hit its quotas anyway so they and their idiot PM aren't really so bad after all? . . . Uh, no.
• At least their fish are changing their growth patterns depending on the warming or cooling of the water around the continent. Stressed out fish aren't necessarily a good thing, you know.
• 348 years of records of temps in Britain. Warmest April they've had. Wildlife impressed.
• Arctic warming, new shipping lanes opened, US thinks it has rights that Canada doesn't think it has. Where might this end?
• Canada vows to force its big industries to get serious about cutting back on greenhouse emissions. Its environmental minister is worried that meeting the admittedly weak Kyoto limits will have "a devastating effect on the Canadian economy." Hmmm. Hmmm. And no mention of the economic development caused by global warming reduction industries. Or the effects on its economy of NOT DOING ANYTHING REAL. Yes, they're getting serious.
• David Roberts has some of his typically insightful posts up here and here and here about the cynical manipulation of our global warming crisis by special interests (like BIG COAL or long-time pork projects now suddenly “green”) to hype their special interests “on our behalf.” And he notes here how the NW and NE states and some Canadian types are forming broad-scaled regional initiatives on restricting greenhouse gases to the point the feds may find themselves completely outflanked. Echoing him, here at the Christian Science Monitor’s climate blog, you can get a wrap-up of what the states are doing. The clowns are coming on stage in their little car. Can even Gore and Earth Day keeping them from pulling everyone's attention away?