Is Hurricane Sandy Linked to Climate Change?

Many people are questioning the links between Hurricane Sandy and climate change. Although ignored in all three presidential debates, Sandy may be an indicator that climate change should be on the minds of not just presidential candidates, but all citizens of the global world.

Hurricane Sandy, the tropical cyclone that hit the United States in late October 2012, was the largest Atlantic hurricane in diameter on record. For the Mid Atlantic and Northeast US, the damages caused by Sandy reached over $20 billion - making this hurricane the more expensive hurricane in history.

Many scientists claim that although no single weather event can prove that climate change and global warming are occurring, the known effects may have intensified the storm. There are several conditions caused by climate change that have been studied.

Global warming causes more moisture to be in the air. According to a 2011 article published in the journal Climate Research, increased global heating leads to greater amounts of moisture in the air through evapotranspiration and the water holding capacity of air increases by about 7 percent per 1°C warming. More moisture + a higher water holding capacity = more water vapor in the atmosphere. Storms supplied with more moisture thus produce more intense precipitation events, which is a common source of damage from hurricanes.

According to a 2012 publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, both sea level and temperature have been steadily rising since 1955. Elevated sea levels (from melting ice) can lead to more intense storm surges, and hot oceans can lead to more intense hurricanes because warm water fuels storms - relatively cooler air condenses vapor rising from water below and the heat released from the condensation gives the hurricane energy. According to the 2012 study, these changes can only be explained by the increase in atmospheric green house gases.

The world - including the presidential candidates - cannot ignore this issue for much longer. Scientists predict that the annual number of increasingly intense hurricanes will increase twofold over the next 100 years. Thanks to Sandy, climate change is starting to get some recognition. Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York City said in statements that “there has been a series of extreme weather incidents. That is not a political statement. That is a factual statement. Anyone who says there’s not a dramatic change in weather patterns, I think is denying reality.” 

So even if the hurricane onset was normal, these factors may have led to a stronger, longer storm than might have been if these conditions were absent. If true, then climate change may be setting up a world that is more hospitable to the generation of extreme weather events like hurricanes.

Texas Keystone XL Pipeline Protests Continue Unabated

Inside Climate News reports tree-sitters blockading the path of the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas closed the first month of their campaign on Wednesday with fortitude and a fresh arrest. The blockade is part of a larger protest around the state that has seen lawsuits, restraining orders and 32 arrests—and that shows no sign of abating.

The tree protesters, ensconced on 80-foot-high platforms, passed the misty Wednesday morning in calm, receiving encouraging text messages and walkie-talkie calls from activists outside their encampment in Winnsboro, a tiny town about 100 miles east of Dallas.

A half-hour's drive away, the day began with much more activity. Cherri Foytlin, a 40-year-old mother of six, approached the entrance to a pipe yard storing construction materials for the Keystone XL. She swung shut two metal gates, looped thick metal chains around her waist and locked herself to both doors. For about an hour and a half Foytlin sat chained on the ground before being arrested. According to Ramsey Sprague, a spokesperson for the Tar Sands Blockade, the activist group behind the tree encampment and other Texas protests, Foytlin hindered several trucks from entering and exiting the site.

TransCanada, the pipeline's builder, told InsideClimate News construction is moving along as planned.

"These efforts by protestors to keep hard working Americans from getting to their jobs is not impacting construction," David Dodson, a spokesperson, said.

Foytlin, whose husband is an offshore oil rig worker, is an environmental justice advocate from Louisiana known for her criticism of recovery efforts following the 2010 BP oil spill.

Sprague, the blockade spokesperson, was driving to meet Foytlin at the county jail when he spoke with InsideClimate News. He said she was charged with criminal trespassing on a "critical infrastructure facility," a Class A misdemeanor, which carries the highest penalty for that offense. Sprague said it was the first Class A charge against the protesters, and that bail had been posted at $2,500. As with the other 31 arrests, the Tar Sands Blockade raised money to pay the bail.

The protestors—who are mainly Texas residents and landowners—launched the civil disobedience in mid-August around Houston and in Oklahoma. Work on the pipeline's southern leg, renamed the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project, started in Texas on Aug. 9 after it received government approval in July. The tree blockade began on Sept. 24. A handful of activists have been arrested at the tree site. The other arrests took place on properties along the pipeline's route.


The protests have drawn increasing attention around the country, particularly following the Oct. 4 arrests of actress Daryl Hannah and Eleanor Fairchild, a 78-year-old Texas landowner. The pair stood in front a bulldozer that was clearing a path for the pipe on Fairchild's farm in Winnsboro. The women were charged with criminal trespassing. A week later, two reporters for the New York Times were handcuffed and detained by an off-duty police officer working as a security guard for TransCanada.

Foytlin, the latest person arrested, spoke with InsideClimate News shortly after she left the Titus County jail on Wednesday evening. She explained that she flew to Houston three days earlier to learn how Texas landowners were being affected by the pipeline construction.

New Strategy for Environmental Goals

Naoko Ishii, the CEO of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) announced the launch of the GEF effort to develop a “GEF 2020 Strategy” at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP11), which occurred this month.

The GEF is the largest public funder of global environmental projects. It partners 182 countries with international institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector to help resolve environmental problems and support sustainable development. 

The "GEF 2020 Strategy" will set certain long-term goals for the global environment and position the GEF as an innovator and a partner in supporting the achievement of these environmental objectives worldwide.

Naoko Ishii assured that the strategy would support the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets as well as hold up to any assistance that the GEF may receive from the CBD COP. The Aichi Targets design a plan to create global policies with the purpose of protecting endangered species and threatened ecosystems, expanding protected areas, and promoting a broader understanding of the economic value of biodiversity.

The GEF strategy underlines the necessity that GEF must focus on scaling up programs that globally impact the environement, including biodiversity, climate change, forest preservation and international waters. The strategy will promote the integration of the evaluation of natural caption in to all relevant decision-making. 

Texas landowners join environmentalists to block Keystone XL pipeline

Protests continue in Texas over construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which, if constructed, would run oil from the Canadian tar sands fields to refineries on the Gulf Coast. In a blockade now entering its fourth week, dozens of environmental activists working with local Texas landowners have set up camp in the pipeline’s path with tree sits and other nonviolent protests.

The landowners made the move to join the protests against the pipeline after it became clear their private property would be overtaken by eminent domain lawyer teams working for Transcanada, but the controversy over the pipeline is not simple. 

Proponents, like Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, say the $7 billion pipeline will bring new jobs to Texas and lessen national dependence on foreign oil. The pipeline will stretch from Canada to Texas and be capable of moving 830,000 barrels a day of a crude form of oil called tar sands. 

“I’ve recently learned that a bunch of out-of-state, self-appointed ‘eco-anarchists’ think they know better than Texans and have arrived to save us from ourselves,” Paterson wrote in a recent editorial defending the Keystone XL Pipeline. “They’re trying to block the Keystone Pipeline Gulf Coast Project, the pipeline that’s under construction in East Texas that will create thousands of jobs and lessen our dependence on foreign oil.”

Over the last four weeks, environmentalists and homeowners have built seven elevated platforms and chained themselves to trees to protest the pipeline, while officials from TransCanada Inc., the company building the pipeline, have installed floodlights and loud generators, which have disrupted the protesters and prevented them from sleeping.

Property rights lawyer working with the movement have said the unfavorable conditions can create a dangerous atmosphere for people who live in trees, possibly making them fall from lack of sleep.

Nine protesters, surviving on canned food and bottled water, have been carrying out a tree-sit for more than two weeks to block the path of the pipeline near Winnsboro, Texas. Other Occupiers have chained themselves to logging equipment, locked themselves in trucks carrying pipe to construction sites and hung banners at equipment staging areas.

The pipeline has sparked a wave of challenges to Texas' eminent domain laws by condemnation lawyer teams, which TransCanada used to acquire some land for the project. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of Texas homeowners last month, according to Texas StateImpact. Still, the protests rage on.

Unjust Compensation for Landowners

Since the United States Congress ordered the construction of a fence on the US-Mexican border to reduce illegal immigration, several landowners residing on the border have had their land condemned for the public project. These landowners obviously want to receive the fair price for their property, yet many accept the initial offer from the government that is far below the market value. The majority of those who accepted the first offer were those who didn’t seek legal consultation from an eminent domain lawyer, only to find out later that their neighbors had received much larger settlements after hiring attorneys.

When the US government condemns property from a landowner for a public project they are required by the Constitution to provide compensation. The process is known as eminent domain. When Congress ordered the construction of the fence in 2006, the project required many landowners on the border from Texas to California to give up their property for the project.

However, the amount of money offered to the landowners was not just compensation. The initial offers from the government were far below market value, and those who could not afford property rights lawyers were not able to receive as much as their counterparts who could. Federal lawyers claim that these first offers were a 'starting amount' that would allow the condemnation to begin and could be adjusted later - but with no legal help, the landowners have no option but to accept the first offer. Thus, the amount of compensation received can be different for two landowners, even if the same area of land was condemned.

Several lawyers who represent lower-class landowners believe that this inconsistency in compensation underlines how unjust the first offers were. It raises questions regarding the government's treatment of landowners who couldn’t afford legal help and now have to live with a huge fence running through their land. 

The variation in settlements, some say, is proof that the government is taking the land from the landowners for unjust compensation. Those landowners who can not afford a just compensation attorney are at a loss. According to the Associated Press, in an analysis of approximately three-hundred eminent domain cases, 85 percent of the near $15 million that has been awarded in settlement was given to just one-third of the property holders - all of whom had legal aid. 

Most of the fence construction was completed two years ago, but the government is still negotiating for land surrounding the project.

California simplifies solar panel permit process

It is projected that over one million more solar panels will be installed on roofs in California over the next few years, thanks to California's Governor, Jerry Brown. Governor Brown is helping solar power San Diego ventures, as well as other cities statewide, in their advancement through the signing the California Senate Bill 1222.

The California Senate Bill 1222 simplifies the process of acquiring the permits – business, residential, or other – needed to install rooftop solar panels. The bill will limit and standardize the fees that a county or city can charge within the permit process. Although the cost of acquiring permits differs across the state, the new bill states that in general, “high permitting fees increase the costs of installations and reduce the ability for solar to be deployed across all income spectrums.”

Under the bill, it will be easier for all residential and business owners to obtain permits to install solar panels. Following the permit process, they can then continue to contact a solar panel installation company, such as Solaire Energy Systems, to install the solar panels on their roofs. The solar panels will then lower their utility bills and help California lessen its carbon footprint.

Governor Brown, in addition to the California Senate Bill 1222, also signed 18 additional new clean energy bills into state law. If California wishes to become a true green economy, then such legislative action is necessary.

California’s top solar city: San Diego

In January 2012, a report was published by Environment California naming San Diego California’s top solar city. San Diego solar usage came in first when compared to the state’s other cities in terms of government, commercial, and residential solar installations.

San Diego also leads in the total amount solar power generated. The city has completed over 4,500 projects and generates around 37 megawatts of solar power. For reference, 1 megawatt is equal to the power used by approximately 750 homes. 

In addition to lowering the state's dependence on non-renewable energy sources, solaire energy systems are are also for the economy. The state’s solar installation market is projected to grow. Experts predict 1 million residential solar projects will be completed by 2020, which will add $30 billion to the economy and create 20,000 jobs each year.

Both the State and the Federal Government provides subsidies and incentives to residents who decide to invest in solar energy. Approximately 40 percent of the entire cost of installation can be covered. From there, it takes around three to seven years for the return on investment. 

Solar panel systems are becoming the norm for many home and business owners in California, and they have become increasingly in style as well. Not only are they popular, but innovative types of solar panels these days permit solar power systems to generate near 100 percent of energy needs.

San Diego Walmart 100th store to use solar power

Walmart has an ambitious goal for their stores to run entirely on renewable energy. Recently, the chain supply store took one step closer to reaching its goal when they announced that its San Diego, California, store will be using rooftop solar panels to generate power. The San Diego solar project will be Walmart’s 100^th store to go solar.  

The company's vast size gives it an advantage in utilizing new energy technology. Walmart has been installing solar panels on their store's roofs since 1998, and uses more solar power than any other company in the United States – beating other chain stores like IKEA and Macy’s. In total, Walmart’s Solaire energy systems generate approximately 65,000 kilowatts. And not only will does Walmart’s project contribute to lessening its carbon footprint, but it also creates jobs. In total, the company's focus on solar power has created over 3,000 jobs in California.

California, also called the 'Sunshine State', is known for it's innovative policies and clean energy bills. In total, the state is projected to generate over 70 million kilowatts of solar energy per year – enough to supply approximately 6,000 homes. In addition, solar power would lessen the states annual carbon dioxide emissions by around 22,000 metric tons. 

Poll reveals voters strongly support solar energy use in the U.S.

Nine out of ten voters believe it's important for the U.S. to develop and use more solar energy, according to a new survey. The independent polling firm Hart Research Associates, found likely voters in the 2012 election overwhelmingly support solar energy and would like to see the government do more to help the industry grow in the U.S.

This is good news for solar companies in San Diego county, the region with the highest concentration of solar energy companies in the country. Especially considering the support was strong across the political spectrum with 84 percent of Republicans, 95 percent of independents, and 98 percent of Democrats agreeing that the U.S. needs more solar power. 

"American voters have spoken loud and clear – they love solar and they want more of it. Republicans, independents, and Democrats are unified in calling on Congress to increase our use of solar energy in America," said Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association in a press release. 

In the survey, almost four out of five of voters said the government should provide tax credits and financial incentives to encourage the development and use of solar energy. Voters' favorable view of solar translates directly into widespread bipartisan support for federal incentives fostering solar energy. Sixty-seven percent of swing voters preferred solar above any other energy source to receive tax and financial incentives. 

The poll consisted of 1,206 U.S. voters, including a heavy sampling of swing voters, who made up up two-thirds of all polled individuals. According to Hart Research, the swing voter sample included only respondents who did not indicate a strong or consistent partisan voting history. The poll was conducted online September 4 to 9 and was commissioned by SEIA. 

Today more than 100,000 Americans work at 5,600 solar energy companies across the nation in all 50 states. The industry more than doubled the amount of solar installed in the U.S. in the second quarter of this year compared to 2011, and growth is expected to continue in the second half of 2012. 

Industry experts say the average system price of a San Diego solar system has dropped 50 percent since 2007. Innovations in system financing have made solar more affordable than ever before. Today, major U.S. brands rely on solar to keep costs low for consumers. 

According to the press release, the top 10 states for total solar electric capacity are (in descending order): California, New Jersey, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and North Carolina.