With the haze of the Durban climate negotiations finally lifting, the climate negotiations in Germany at the midway point, and one month before Rio+20 it is time to reflect on the path that lies ahead for the rest of this year.  While global negotiations have slowed since the high-intensity period over the last three years (in Copenhagen, Cancun, and Durban), that doesn’t mean we can afford for action to slow down.  After all, as the International Energy Agency just pointed out the door for avoiding the greatest impacts is quickly closing.

Four key themes are critical to watch the remainder of this year that are essential ingredients for progress on international global warming action: (1) the actions countries take at home right now; (2) the actions countries commit to implement at Rio+20; (3) how much progress is made in closing the “mitigation gap”; and (4) what stage is set this year for the international legal agreement that is to be reached in 2015.

This post was written by Michael Davidson. One block from my office in Washington, DC, young people frustrated by the lack of accountability and democracy in corporate America have gathered to demand and demonstrate change. I hear many voices of my generation as I walk through McPherson Square, but our concerns are unmistakable: unemployment, corruption, massive subsidies to established industries, corporate irresponsibility and—inherent in all these problems—environmental injustice on a global scale. Given the increasingly precarious world that we inhabit, there is much to do at next year’s Rio+20 Earth Summit on sustainable development. What is certain: The status quo …

Yesterday in the sweltering heat of Washington, DC Members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation which would seek to stop the European program to control aviation’s air pollution.  The bill is another backward attempt by the House to undermine efforts to control the carbon pollution that is causing global warming.  This bill should be rejected by the House, never even considered by the Senate, and rejected by the Obama Administration as unhelpful to its effort to be a leader in addressing global warming. Representatives Mica (R-FL), Rahall (D-WV), Petri (R-WI), Costello (D-IL), Hultgren (R-IL), Duncan (R-TN), Shuster (R-PA), …

Several new reports released over the past few days show that renewable energy keeps growing, with more countries implementing policies or incentives to spur renewable energy deployment.  The studies found that renewable energy accounted for $211 billion in new investments in 2010 – an increase of 32% from the previous year.  Next year at the Earth Summit in Rio, countries and companies have a chance to build upon this momentum by committing to deeper actions to spur renewable energy deployment within their country and company.  This is an important opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. So what are the key findings …

On Wednesday June 22, the US and European Union (EU) officials will meet in Oslo, Norway for a bilateral on aviation issues.  As a part of this meeting they will discuss the EU Aviation Directive – the only program in the world to regulate the carbon pollution from airplanes.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that US will:  “deliver its first formal objections to the European Union's impending emission-trading plan for airlines”.  This is the wrong position on legal, policy, and environmental grounds.  It sends the wrong signal about the US commitment to battling global warming. So today, Environmental Defense …

As I meet with global warming officials from other countries, I frequently hear this statement: “American action on global warming is lost for the foreseeable future.”  This is a good time to evaluate how true or false this statement is since the US Energy Information Administration  (EIA) has just released its annual projections – the Annual Energy Outlook 2011.  The general conclusion: emissions will be below 2005 levels for the next 15 years and could be reduced even further if the Administration implemented EPA and other rules in a strong fashion. But before giving some detail on the results here …

Carbon pollution from fossil fuel use reached the highest level yet in 2010, according to the International Energy Agency.  So should we throw up our hands?  No, this is a wake-up call that countries need to significantly speed up the pace of their action to reduce emissions.  And when they come to the Earth Summit in Rio next June – just one short year from now – they have a chance to do just that.  They better come prepared to implement new actions at home on climate and energy at the Earth Summit – held from June 4-6 in Rio …

Why would a reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have anything to say about the steps that Europe is taking to reduce carbon pollution from aviation?  The answer should be nothing.  But unfortunately the US Senate is considering language passed by the House of Representatives that would signal unhappiness with Europe’s efforts to control the carbon pollution from aviation.  The Senate and the White House should reject this language as it is incorrect as a matter of law, would attempt to stop another country’s efforts to reduce carbon pollution, and would hamper incentives to enhance aircraft fuel efficiency …

NASA has just released a new map which shows the carbon stored in the forests around the world.  While it doesn’t show us exactly which forests are at risk of deforestation – thus turning the current stored carbon into carbon pollution that causes global warming – it does provide us with a visual of what is at risk if we don’t successfully halt deforestation.  It is a very useful and critical assessment which will provide solid information in tracking efforts to address deforestation.    This assessment couldn’t come at a more critical time as deforestation rates in Brazil have recently …

If an airline claims to be “green”, but is actively working to gut carbon pollution standards what would you do?  Since that is exactly what America, Continental, and United airlines are doing, major environmental groups sent a letter to the airlines asking them why they are spending their customers’ money on lawyers and lobbyists in an effort to thwart crucial carbon pollution cuts. In the letter, NRDC, Environmental Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, Environment America, and the Sierra Club urged the airlines to “drop the lawsuit, and join the future of low-carbon aviation by making your actions consistent …