Climate change is an urgent emergency. Leading climate scientist James Hansen now warns of humanity’s “last chance” [ark] to take the necessary dramatic actions to solve the climate crisis. The scientist who first brought global warming to the public’s awareness 20 years ago this week has now concluded we are well past dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions (with no end in sight), and this is going to cause ecosystem collapse and mass extinction. EI is in agreement that this can only be avoided with urgent actions such as ending coal emissions, and that fossil fuel executives are guilty of crimes against humanity and nature [ark].

Alone, and most assuredly in combination with related global environmental crises, global heating and the breakdown in climate patterns threatens civilization, the global ecosystem and the continuation of complex life. This is not conjecture. It is logical consequences of known science and observable trends. Some in the United States government have concluded similarly, that climate change threatens national security [search] and “could destabilize ’struggling and poor’ countries around the world, prompting mass migrations and creating breeding grounds for terrorists [ark].” Meanwhile the White House refuses to open emails [ark] from its own EPA regarding the need to regulate carbon dioxide.

Canberra Times: The world’s coastal oceans are in crisis, with oxygen-starved ”dead zones” increasing by a third in just two years as global temperatures increase with climate change, according to the International Whaling Commission’s latest scientific report. Dead zones, caused by over-enrichment of waters by nutrients from run-off, sewerage and warming waters, represent ”the worst-case scenario for coastal biodiversity” and are the ‘’severest form” of ocean habitat degradation, the report …

Agence France Presse: Republican nominee-elect John McCain Tuesday vowed to combat global warming without sacrificing economic growth, contradicting President George W. Bush on the need for binding emissions cuts. Unlike Bush, McCain pressed for mandatory cuts in emissions of warming gases as he spoke at a California event alongside Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who opposes the White House hopeful’s call for offshore oil drilling. McCain said lifting a federal ban on coastal drilling may not bring …

EurekAlert: Dramatic progress in renewable energy technology is needed if the United States desires to produce 25 percent of its electricity and motor vehicle fuel from renewable sources by 2025 without significantly increasing consumer costs, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today. Produced by the RAND Environment, Energy and Economic Development program, the study provides a "snapshot" of the nation’s potential energy expenditures if a requirement was imposed that 25 …

Agence France Presse: East Timor’s government is under fire over an agreement to turn more than a sixth of the country’s arable land over to a 100 million dollar foreign-funded ethanol project. The Fretilin opposition has branded as a "land giveaway" a memorandum of understanding between the agriculture minister and GTLeste Biotech for a 100,000 hectare (247,000 acre) sugar plantation and ethanol plant. The agreement with the little-known Indonesian company guarantees at least 100 million …

New York Times: In an era of climate change and expensive gasoline, a vehicle’s fuel efficiency, measured in miles per gallon, is an increasingly important factor to consider when shopping for a car. But two Duke University business school professors say m.p.g. is a flawed measure and leads to a fundamental misconception about efficiency. They say the United States should do what some other countries do, which is rate cars by amount of fuel consumed for a given distance, gallons per 100 miles, for …

Reuters: White House hopeful John McCain will push on Monday for car makers to build more environmentally friendly vehicles, threatening new legislation if they do not comply and proposing tax breaks to encourage consumers to buy "cleaner" cars. According to excerpts of his speech obtained by Reuters, the Republican presidential candidate will call for auto manufacturers to speed the process of making engines that can use alcohol-based fuels. "Whether it takes a meeting …

Reuters: Leading economies reached a draft accord on greenhouse gas emissions that will be presented at the G8 summit next month, South Korea said on Monday, but sources at the talks said there were no breakthroughs in the pact. Members of the Group of Eight leading powers, eight other major countries and the European Union met in Seoul at the weekend seeking long-term pledges on cutting greenhouse gases. A diplomatic source in the talks who asked not to be named said: "The G8 …

Associated Press: Australia must work harder to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions despite a report indicating the nation will meet its Kyoto pollution target, the climate minister said Tuesday. The government released a report Tuesday on Australia’s emissions for 2006, the first official progress report since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s new government ratified the Kyoto Protocol for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in December last year. The 1997 treaty gave Australia a relatively easy goal …

Jakarta Press: Less than two years ago few people knew about biofuels. Today, Indonesians are struggling to cope with the escalating costs of daily essentials, like rice, as the amount of agricultural land being used to produce this new source of energy increases. A combination of skyrocketing oil prices and the need to find alternatives to climate changing fossil fuels is driving this new biofuel obsession. Environmentalists are becoming increasingly worried about the adverse impacts this …