AAP: The former New Zealand government’s strong policy on climate change was a driving factor behind the Labour party’s loss, the federal opposition says. The coalition has also warned the federal government to take note of the election result and introduce a more "measured" approach to an emissions trading scheme. New Zealand National Party leader John Key will start forming a centre-right government this week after winning Saturday’s general election, ending the nine-year reign of …

New York Times: THE inspiring and transformative choice by the American people to elect Barack Obama as our 44th president lays the foundation for another fateful choice that he — and we — must make this January to begin an emergency rescue of human civilization from the imminent and rapidly growing threat posed by the climate crisis. The electrifying redemption of America`s revolutionary declaration that all human beings are born equal sets the stage for the renewal of United States leadership in …

Sun-Herald: PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd will hold private talks tomorrow with an American evangelical leader and lobbyist who preaches that inaction on climate change is an offence against God. The Reverend Richard Cizik arrived in Australia yesterday on a seven-day tour to spread God’s word about saving the planet. Mr Cizik said there was a strong biblical mandate for humans "to watch over and care for" earth’s bounty and creatures. "Australia and the United States have been major blockers …

Business Monitor: Even as national governments make strong efforts to fight off bankruptcy for their financial institutions, the lands that support their farmers and ensure food security for their populations are facing ever-increasing threats of degradation. According to Dr. William Dar, director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) and the chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification …

St. Petersburg Times: If climatologists are right, Florida’s future could be a thirsty one: Climate change, blamed for eating away at Florida’s coastline, is also quietly encroaching on the state’s drinking water. Much of the damage to Florida’s water supply will take place out of sight, in the underground aquifers that provide most of the state’s drinking water. As rising seas nibble at the state’s coastline, saltwater intrusion will also creep steadily inland. "We used to assume that we could use …

ScienceDaily: If climate disasters are to be averted, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) must be reduced below the levels that already exist today, according to a study published in Open Atmospheric Science Journal by a group of 10 scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom and France. The authors, who include two Yale scientists, assert that to maintain a planet similar to that on which civilization developed, an optimum CO2 level would be less than 350 ppm — a dramatic change from most …

Cowra Guardian: IN ONE of the first big agricultural moves driven by climate change and a lack of irrigation water in the Murray-Darling Basin, the rice industry is looking north. With the world hungry for more rice and the Riverina rice bowl in south-western NSW parched by years of drought, about 30 farmers on the North Coast are about to plant rice for the first time. The 600-hectare planting could represent the birth of a commercial rice-growing region that can be sustained by subtropical …

Agence France-Presse: Former US vice president Al Gore said an Internet revolution carrying Barack Obama to the White House should now focus its power on stopping Earth’s climate crisis. The one-time presidential contender turned environmental champion told Web 2.0 Summit goers in San Francisco Friday that technology has provided tools to save the planet while creating jobs and stimulating the crippled economy. "The young people who have been inspired by Barack Obama’s campaign and the movement that …

Sudsbury Star: Striking while the iron is hot, the Harper government is lining up at U. S. president-elect Barack Obama’s door with a proposal for a joint climate-change pact. The main purpose of the Conservatives’ proposal is typically Alberta-centric — to secure a special place for tarsands oil in the U. S. economy. And the environmental angle? Well, that’s a clever bit of packaging to entice a new president who, unlike his predecessor, actually believes in the concept of human-caused …

Associated Press: Democrats are fighting over control of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the outcome could affect President-elect Obama’s efforts to limit the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming. Obama has said he wants to act quickly on climate change. But bipartisan support could be tested if liberal California Rep. Henry Waxman unseats the chairman, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich. The committee’s top Democrat for 28 years, Dingell is an ally of important of automakers and electric …