An interesting summary of climate change and energy news from 2004 over on EDIE. (See also their contaminated land news round-up.) UPDATE: A similar round-up of clean energy news from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

A Somalian mother has to choose which of her children to save. Meanwhile, Americans knowingly and deliberately poison their children.

Oh lordy, here's another one. Writing in the Seattle Times today, Collin Levey lobs the by-now-familiar accusation that enviros are pinning the tsunamis on climate change. Similar talk has been heard from other eco groups, though they always clarify that they don't mean the earthquake in the Indian Ocean was caused by global warming, er, exactly. Note that all the rhetorical work here is done by the "er, exactly," which is packed with insinuation that Levey does not unpack, because she can't, because of course "eco groups" really don't mean that the earthquake was cause by global warming. After the …

I meant to link to this a few days ago: Over on Renewable Energy Access, Scott Sklar argues for the development of new economic metrics by which to assess the viability of renewable energy. By accepting the traditional measures of viability (cents per kWh, for instance) PV and other renewables always come out poorly. Another economic "metric" needs to be crafted and effort initiated to build support for it (such as dollars per immediate used, levelized cost, non-interruptable energy). When you take these modifiers in account, biomass, free-flow hydropower, geothermal, photovoltaics, solar thermal, wind, and waste heat/cogeneration along with other …

According to a study by the National Wind Coordinating Committee, "Based on current projections of 3,500 operational wind turbines in the US by the end of 2001, excluding California, the total annual mortality was estimated at approximately 6,400 bird fatalities per year for all species combined." Let's say they lowballed things, they underestimated the number of turbines, underestimated the number of birds per turbine, and are sops to the wind industry. Let's double their number ... no, triple it.  No, quadruple! Let's say turbines kill 25,000 birds a year. According to the National Audubon Society, house cats kill 100,000,000 birds …

What is the relationship between global warming and the recent tsunami in the Indian Ocean (and natural disasters more generally)? Who is and is not drawing such a connection? Who is and is not trying to score political points around it? There's been a flurry of writing on the subject recently. We begin with today's Muckraker ... which follows up on this post. Our own Amanda Griscom Little argues that, contrary to the assertions of some right-wing cranks, no enviro is in fact claiming that global warming caused the tsunami. What some enviros are claiming is that global warming -- …

What were the big eco-events of 2004? More than 2,000 members of the Sierra Club voted. The results are here.

A lot happened this year in the world of renewable energy.  As Renewable Energy Access summarizes: 2004 was a banner year for renewable energy! PV production capacity reached the 1GW mark; Global Wind Power continued to blow at hurricane strength, even with a downturn in the U.S. market; Bioenergy gained critical momentum powered largely by biodiesel; Ocean Energy moved from a few ripples to serious swells in Europe and the U.S.; Green Energy purchases became synonymous with sustainable business practices; and lots more...whew! They've got a four-part year-in-review feature that makes for great skimming.  Here's Jan-March, April-June, July-Sep, and Oct-Dec.

ConocoPhillips has decided to withdraw from Arctic Power, the main lobbying group pushing for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We were actually going to write this up in the Daily Grist today, but our subscription to the Wall Street Journal, where it was reported, has mysteriously stopped working. (Anybody got a login they'd care to share? Not that I would ever encourage you to do something illegal, like send the login and password to droberts at grist dot org.) Luckily, the Green Life Blog has a summary of the story, with some trenchant thoughts on its significance. Of …

A short, concise, and helpful answer to the question of how to find the most eco-friendly coffee solution for your office, from Treehugger.