Fixing Climate Change May Add No Costs, Report Says

In decades of public debate about global warming, one assumption has been accepted by virtually all factions: that tackling it would necessarily be costly. But a new report casts doubt on that idea, declaring that the necessary fixes could wind up being effectively free.

A global commission will announce its finding on Tuesday that an ambitious series of measures to limit emissions would cost $4 trillion or so over the next 15 years, an increase of roughly 5 percent over the amount that would likely be spent anyway on new power plants, transit systems and other infrastructure.

When the secondary benefits of greener policies — like lower fuel costs, fewer premature deaths from air pollution and reduced medical bills — are taken into account, the changes might wind up saving money, according to the findings of the group, the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.

“We are proposing a way to have the same or even more economic growth, and at the same time have environmental responsibility,” said the chairman of the commission, Felipe Calderón, the former president of Mexico and an economist. “We need to fix this problem of climate change, because it’s affecting all of us.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/science/earth/fixing-climate-change-may-add-no-costs-report-says.html?_r=0



A wind turbine being installed in northern France. Research says the benefits of such efforts may offset the cost of subsidies. Credit Benoit Tessier/Reuters

New Hydroelectric Plant to Be Built for New York

It seems as natural as, well, water: Harness the energy potential of a 95-billion-gallon reservoir to run four turbines and generate electrical power cleanly and at a profit.

Having overcome potential hurdles ranging from drought-stricken rafters on the Delaware River to the endangered dwarf wedgemussel and northern wild monkshood, New York City is tapping the vast resources of its upstate reservoir system to commission a new hydroelectric plant.

The plant is projected to generate 14 megawatts of electric power, which the city would sell to the New York power grid. That is enough to provide electricity, on average, to 6,000 homes. By not using oil or coal to generate electricity, it is estimated that the plant would avoid the emission of 25,620 metric tons of greenhouse gases annually, or the equivalent of removing 5,400 cars from the road.

This would be the largest hydroelectric development in New York State in more than two decades and the first time power would be generated directly from a Delaware River branch.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/nyregion/new-hydroelectric-plant-to-be-built-for-new-york.html?_r=0



The city is planning to build a $72 million hyrdoelectric power plant at its Cannonsville Reservoir. Credit New York City Department of Environmental Protection

Residents living nearer natural gas wells report more health symptoms, Yale study says

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- People who live closer to natural gas wells, including those that were drilled using "fracking," or hydraulic fracturing, report more health symptoms than those who live farther away, according to a study reported today by Yale University researchers.

The study, which drew strong negative reaction from the oil and gas industry, was published online in Environmental Health Perspectives, a journal of the National Institutes of Health. It surveyed 492 people in 180 households with ground-fed water wells in southwestern Pennsylvania, where the concentration of natural gas extraction is very high.

Respondents, who were not asked about fracking, reported more upper respiratory and dermal (skin) symptoms over the past year when they lived less than a kilometer from a gas well, and fewer such symptoms when they lived more than two kilometers from a well. There was no such difference in other health symptoms reported in the survey, which included heart, gastrointestinal and neurological complaints, among others.

"The result stood even when we controlled for a lot of other things, so it wasn't just a simple correlation," said Meredith Stowe, senior author on the paper and an associate research scientist and epidemiologist at the Yale Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program. Researchers controlled for the survey respondents' age, gender, smoking status, education level, and awareness of environmental risk factors in the study.

http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2014/09/residents_living_nearer_natura.html



A Yale study has shown that residents who live closer to natural gas wells, including ones where fracking is used, report more upper respiratory and skin symptoms than those who live farther away from the wells. (Lynn Ischay, The Plain Dealer)

ANNUAL GROUND ZERO CEREMONY TO HONOR 9/11 VICTIMS (Link to Live Stream)

NEW YORK -- Still-mourning family members will again gather at ground zero on the morning of Thursday, September 11, as has become the grim annual tradition, to mark the 13th anniversary of the terror attacks that rocked the nation and changed the way we live our daily lives.

>> WATCH LIVE STREAM HERE TOMORROW AT 8AM

Moments of silence will again mark each significant moment of the day, with bells tolling on six separate occasions, to mark the moments each plane hit the towers, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, as well as when both towers fell.

Memorial organizers are taking over primary responsibility for the ceremony from the city for the first time, and they plan to continue concentrating the event on victims' loved ones, even as the museum creates a new, broader framework for remembering 9/11.

At sundown, the Tribute in Light will again shine into the Lower Manhattan sky.

The twin beams of light also honor those who worked so hard to get New York City through its greatest trial. The lights, which can be seen for miles, fade away at dawn Friday.

http://abc7news.com/news/annual-ground-zero-ceremony-to-honor-9-11-victims/303071/

NYC taxi app service will be for women only

NEW YORK - New York is about to get a new taxi app service – with cabs driven by women for women, according to a report in the New York Times.

Serving New York City, suburban Westchester and Long Island, the latest Uber-like taxi app will be available through an Apple application for smartphones as of Sept. 16, with an Android app to follow. It will be called SheTaxis in the suburbs and SheRides in New York City, due to regulations barring the use of “taxi” in the name.

Women who summon the service will be met by a female driver wearing a hot pink pashmina scarf.

Favored by women leery of getting into hired cars with male drivers or being groped by men on crammed buses, trains and subways, women-only transport can be found in many cities around the world.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nation-and-world/nyc-taxi-app-service-will-be-women-only

Has anyone heard from Lady Freedom Returns?

Her sister is trying to locate her, family emergency, so she decided to try DU. Thanks!

Her post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1018&pid=661499

Global warming already dangerous, risks being irreversible, says new UN global warming report

WASHINGTON (AP) — Global warming is here, human-caused and probably already dangerous — and it's increasingly likely that the heating trend could be irreversible, a draft of a new international science report says.

The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Monday sent governments a final draft of its synthesis report, which combines three earlier, gigantic documents by the Nobel Prize-winning group. There is little in the report that wasn't in the other more-detailed versions, but the language is more stark and the report attempts to connect the different scientific disciplines studying problems caused by the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas.

The 127-page draft, obtained by The Associated Press, paints a harsh warning of what's causing global warming and what it will do to humans and the environment. It also describes what can be done about it.

"Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems," the report says. The final report will be issued after governments and scientists go over the draft line by line in an October conference in Copenhagen.

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2014/08/26/un-panel-global-warming-human-caused-dangerous



FILE - This Aug. 19, 2014 file photo shows flash flood waters from the overrun Skunk Creek flood I-10 in northwestern Phoenix. Global warming is here, human-caused and can already be considered dangerous, a draft of a new international science report says, warning that it is increasingly likely that climate change could be irreversible. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Monday sent governments a final draft of its synthesis report, which combines three earlier, gigantic documents by the Nobel Prize-winning group. There is little in the report, that wasn’t in the other more-detailed versions, but the language is more stark and the report attempts to paint a bigger picture of the problem caused by the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

Fracking Link to Birth Defects Probed in Early Research

The first research into the effects of oil and gas development on babies born near wells has found potential health risks. Government officials, industry advocates and the researchers themselves say more studies are needed before drawing conclusions.

While the findings are still preliminary, any documented hazards threaten to cast a shadow over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking -- the process of blasting chemicals, sand and water deep underground to extract fuel from rock that’s helped push the U.S. closer to energy self-sufficiency than at any time since 1985.

“It’s not really well understood how the environment interacts with genetics to produce these birth defects,” said Lisa McKenzie of the Colorado School of Public Health, who conducted research published in January in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. “We really need to do more study to see what the association is, if any, with natural gas development.”

McKenzie and her colleagues discovered more congenital heart defects in babies born to mothers living near gas wells in Colorado. Two studies, which have not been peer reviewed, showed infants born near fracking sites in Pennsylvania were more likely to have low birth weight, a sign of developmental problems. In Utah, local authorities are investigating a spate of stillbirths after tests found dangerous levels of air pollution from the oil and gas industry.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-08-26/fracking-link-to-birth-defects-probed-in-early-research



Two studies, which have not been peer reviewed, showed infants born near fracking sites in Pennsylvania were more likely to have low birth weight, a sign of developmental problems. Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg

These were posted last night:

Learning to love Ulysses S. Grant

Years ago, Steve Trimm had a grudge against the country’s 18th president, Ulysses S. Grant.

Trimm, of Albany, blamed the Civil War general for the death of his ancestor on the first day at the Battle of Shiloh, saying the Confederates launched an attack that Grant should have anticipated.

<snip>

Trimm made the trip from Albany to take a tour, “gritting my teeth,” then realized he didn’t know Grant at all.

<snip>

He is on a mission to educate people about Grant’s many sides. He assumes Grant’s character in performances at the cottage and regales visitors with tales of Grant’s personal and military history.

http://poststar.com/news/local/learning-to-love-ulysses-s-grant/article_6bd6c138-24c3-11e4-b2a1-001a4bcf887a.html



Steve Trimm plays the role of General Grant's son on Friday, August 8, 2014, during a reenactment of the General's funeral at Grant Cottage in Wilton. (Megan Farmer - mfarmer@poststar.com)