Da Nero del Richard

Gli Stati Uniti sono aspettano per accettare “gli obblighi internazionali legantesi„ sulla riduzione delle emissioni di gas della serra, i funzionari dicono, se altre nazioni fanno lo stesso.

Le osservazioni sono venuto in un congresso di notizie a Parigi data dai consiglieri ambientali e di economia del James Connaughton e di prezzi, del Daniel al presidente Bush.

Gli Stati Uniti sperano che le economie principali del mondo concludano “una dichiarazione dei capi„ prima della sommità luglio di G8.

Non ci era indicazione di quanto gli Stati Uniti potrebbero essere preparati per tagliare le emissioni.

Ma la gestione di Bush sta cercando chiaramente un certo genere di impegno obbligatorio dai p#si in via di sviluppo importanti quali la Cina, l'India ed il Brasile.

“Gli Stati Uniti sono preparati per prendparteere a legare gli obblighi internazionali di ridurre i gas della serra come componente di un accordo globale in cui tutte le economie importanti intraprendono similmente gli obblighi internazionali obbligatori,„ hanno detto il sig. Price, il consigliere di sicurezza nazionale del delegato del presidente per gli affari economici internazionali.

Il processo di clima delle Nazioni Unite dà risalto a che i paesi differenti hanno “il terreno comunale ma responsabilità differenziate„ del cambiamento di clima, che in pratica ha significato le nazioni industrializzate che promettono di tagliare le emissioni mentre i p#si in via di sviluppo non.

Ma i funzionari degli Stati Uniti hanno suggerito che la frase dovrebbe significare qualche cosa di differente - sostenendo le più povere nazioni, mentre prevede quelli che stanno sviluppando con successo per intraprendere un certo genere di obbligo di tagliare le emissioni.

“Una struttura efficace richiede la partecipazione di tutte le economie importanti, sviluppata ed in via di sviluppo egualmente,„ ha detto il sig. Price.

“Europa e gli Stati Uniti potrebbero risultare oggi le luci e venire 2030 o 2050 non avremmo richiamato il problema del cambiamento di clima.„

Alcuni paesi potrebbero commettere alle emissioni costanti gli obiettivi mentre altri hanno promesso i guadagni di rendimento energetico, lui hanno suggerito. Gli impegni hanno potuto riguardare l'intera economia del paese, o determinati settori giusti.

Mescolareare le piattaforme

La nozione che i p#si in via di sviluppo importanti potrebbero prendere sugli obiettivi obbligatori potrebbe dimostrare politicamente Philip difficile e suggerito Clapp, direttore di controllo del delegato del gruppo dell'ambiente del Pew

Gli Stati Uniti desiderano concludere i colloqui prima della sommità G8 nel Giappone

“The White House knows that taking a binding target of comparable size [to that taken by the US or EU] is neither a negotiating option nor a physical possibility for the Chinese government,” he told BBC News.

He also suggested that an acid test of a leaders’ declaration would be the timescale for making cuts.

At the last G8 summit, Japan proposed setting the goal of reducing emissions globally by 50% by 2050, a target which Daniel Price said could potentially form part of the declaration.

“It’s become increasingly apparent that the Bush administration is willing to agree to a target that would take effect 40 years from now, and wants to portray that as a major accomplishment,” said Mr Clapp.

“A key question is whether the administration is willing to accept binding targets that take effect before 2020, because a binding commitment that doesn’t take effect for 40 years is really just shuffling the problem off one more time.”

Trading plans

The US comments stem largely from a process initiated by President Bush last year, a series of talks involving 17 nations that together account for about 80% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The “major economies” or “big emitters” group had its second meeting in Hawaii last month, and the next is scheduled for Paris in April.

Environmental groups have criticised the process as a distraction from the UN negotiations, and because the developing countries involved have much lower per capita emissions than the US.

But European delegates involved in the Hawaii meeting described the mood as frank and engaging.

The EU and US are working together within the World Trade Organization (WTO) on a proposal that all countries should slash tarriffs on trade in clean energy equipment.

“Some countries, in particular the major developing countries, have tarriff schedules as high as 70%,” said Mr Connaughton, head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

“We’re trying to get the world to eliminate tarriffs, and that could increase global trade in clean energy technologies and services by up to 14% per year.

“This is the single largest step we could take immediately to transfer available technologies to the developing world at very low cost.”

Mr Price suggested the style of dialogue between the EU and US, which he categorised as “the EU berating the US to do more”, needed to change, with both blocs working together to ensure the participation of major developing countries.

By Matt Sullivan

India’s largest automaker is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets in August of 2008.

Barring any last-minute design changes on the way to production, the Air Car should be surprisingly practical. The $12,700 CityCAT, one of a handful of planned Air Car models, can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. It will take only a few minutes for the CityCAT to refuel at gas stations equipped with custom air compressor units; MDI says it should cost around $2 to fill the car’s carbon-fiber tanks with 340 liters of air at 4350 psi. Drivers also will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car’s built-in compressor to refill the tanks in about 4 hours.

Of course, the Air Car will likely never hit American shores, especially considering its all-glue construction. But that doesn’t mean the major automakers can write it off as a bizarre Indian experiment — MDI has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa.

£25 million in grants issued for micro wind turbines and solar panels

Small scale renewable energy grants worth some £25 million have now been claimed from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP). The news came as Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks called for more homes and business to follow his lead by adopting a ‘go green’ new year’s resolution.

His call comes as more and more homes, schools and businesses have been helped with Government grants to install technologies such as solar panels, biomass boilers and ground-source heat pumps.

For more information on the Low Carbon Buildings Programme and to apply for grants click here: http://www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk/about/hfaqs/ 

http://www.chislehurst-christchurch.diocese-rochester.org

Grant £10k of £51k system cost

This page is all about a rather silly, quick project where in about 1 day I built a small wind generator using the following items, and nothing else….

(1) Wood

(2) Copper wire

(3) Surplus Neodymium magnets

(4) Dirt

(5) 10″ piece of 3/8″ steel shaft

(6) Two bolts, but these are optional.

…and that’s all, unless we count glue, and linseed oil which I used for finishing. Initially the project started out to simply be an alternator experiment. Once I had the armature finished and a couple of the coils wound on the stator, I realized it was definitely going to be a successful one, so I decided to build it into a small wind generator. Mostly simple tools were used, although a band saw, wood lathe, and drill press came in pretty handy.

Pictured above is one of the magnets I used. These are surplus magnets from computer hard drives, one of my favorites for alternator experiments. They are about 1.75″ long, 1.4″ wide, and a quarter of an inch thick. 8 of them will fit together to make a ring. We no longer have these magnets in stock. They were surplus, they are sold out, and we can’t get any more. But this design could easily be adapted to use different size or shape NdFeB magnets.

Above you can see the armature for the alternator. I simply laminated wood until I felt it was thick enough to hold the magnets securely. After they were glued together, I lathed the armature down to match the diameter of a ring of 8 magnets, I cut a slot so the magnets could be pressed/glued in. Epoxy is probably the best glue for this. In the center I drilled a hole and glued/pressed in the 3/8″ diameter shaft. Keep in mind, this alternator has 8 poles, and the magnets must have alternating poles facing out.

Pictured above you see the wooden pillow block bearings. I simply drilled a hole, slightly under 3/8″ diameter, and then using a gas stove, heated the shaft to almost red hot, and forced it through the holes. This makes for a good tight fit, and it serves to harden the wood, and the inside of the holes has a layer of carbon, which makes for a better bearing. These bearings are from pine, certainly a harder wood would work much better! In the top of the pillow blocks I drilled a small hole so that the bearings could be oiled/greased. Once the alternator was assembled, there was no play in the shaft at all, and it turned freely. Even after several hours of hard running, the bearings are holding up well. It’s interesting information, although I would certainly encourage anybody building a windmill to use steel ball bearings. I just did wooden ones for the sake of fun, and simplicity. Odds are, on a slow running machine, like a slow water wheel, wooden bearings, properly made could last for years. This is actually a high speed windmill and I should think these would wear out quickly.

The stator, on which the coils are wound was cut from two pieces of 2″ X 4″ lumber. The inner diameter is 1/2″ larger than that of the armature, and to the sides are thin plywood pieces with holes drilled for winding the coils. Inner diameter of the plywood pieces is only slightly larger than the diameter of the armature. This allowed for “hollow coils” into which I would have a “dirt” core to attract the magnetic field through the coils. These coils are wound with #22 AWG enameled copper wire, each coil is 100 turns. The coils are wound in opposite directions.

I dragged a magnet around in the dirt of my driveway, so that it would attract the magnetite sand. Pictured above you can see the pile I used, with a stack of magnets demonstrating its magnetic properties.

The dirt was mixed with epoxy, so that I had a thick paste. I simply spooned it inside the hollow space in the stator. This makes for a reasonable core, and although it does not work nearly as well as steel laminates, it’s much easier. Making steel laminates is a nearly impossible task without significant time and tooling. The magnetite paste does a good job of attracting the magnetic field, and is non-conductive so eddy currents are not a problem.

The completed alternator! I was real surprised by the performance. I could easily spin it up with my fingers to produce over 12 volts. Attaching a cordless drill to the shaft, it would light up a 25 watt 12 volt light bulb easily! Although this may not seem breath taking, I thought it was, considering the simplicity of the project! It was at this point I decided it deserved a windmill for testing!

To stay with the “style” of the project I decided to build the whole windmill out of wood, it’s a fairly simple design and should be self explanatory. It’s glued and pinned, with wooden dowels, no bolts are used except to bolt the alternator on it. I cheated there.

The prop is wooden, made from 1″ X 4″ lumber. Each blade is 3.5″ wide at the base, 2.5″ at the tip, and 2′ long, for a total diameter of 4 feet. The pitch of the blade is 10 degrees at the hub, and 6 degrees at the tip. The hub is simply made from 2″ thick wood, and glued to the shaft with epoxy. The blades are held on by one small nut at the end of the shaft, and several wooden pins. So far its held up well! Hope I never feel like taking it apart, because it would be nearly impossible…

So there it is, all finished up! I took it for a test drive in the model A Ford. I didn’t want to break it, so I never took it over 25 miles per hour, but it seems to perform well (considering). In a 25 mph wind it produces about 60 watts (5 amps into a 12 volt battery), so I think I can give it an optimistic rating of 100 watts…not bad for a 1 day project made entirely of wood. Obviously, it’s not made to hold up over the long term, it was merely a fun little test, but I think the alternator provides some interesting data. I feel pretty sure now that with little work one could definitely build a very useful alternator completely from scratch. By simply increasing the diameter some one could get a LOT more output from a very similar machine. Of course, using better bearings would be wise, but I like the use of wood, because it is a material which is widely available, and easily worked with the simplest of tools. Thanks for dropping in and letting me show off this silly windmill!

Hemp helps with green movement

Lucas Coppes

As environmental consciousness increases, a plant with great potential to accommodate our generation’s awareness has re-emerged, but its negative associations leave some obstacles to overcome.

Hemp, which is too often associated with marijuana, does come from the same family of plants, but yields a fraction of the active ingredient, THC.

Hemp has the uncanny ability to help in solving many of the world’s major dilemmas from nutrition problems to the greenhouse effect.

In 1938, Popular Mechanics named hemp the first “billion dollar crop” for the U.S., which it could use to produce everything from fuel, paper and oil to medicine and dynamite. According to Jack Herer in his book The Emperor Wears No Clothes, if we still used the same process being used in 1916 to produce hemp paper today, it could replace 40 to 70 per cent of all pulp paper.

Today, hemp will produce 4.1 times more pulp for paper over a 20-year rotation compared to trees. For example, supermarket paper bags from trees and chemical-based plastic bags would be replaced with a biodegradable, more durable paper that’s acquired from an annually renewable source: cannabis hemp.

In the U.S., 82 per cent of spending goes towards energy to maintain a home or to produce its products. Development in biomass energy has exploded in the last few years, and cellulose from things like corn and sugar cane can be converted to methanol and then to a high-octane lead-free gasoline.

Hemp prevails again, as it produces the most net biomass, and has from four to 100 times more cellulose than other products currently in use. This variation is due to inadequate research, but suggests hemp’s equivalent potential to corn and sugar. This idea is not as novel as it seems; Ford Motor Co. was operating this process in the 1930s using tree cellulose, and Henry Ford himself partially constructed a car using hemp.

Both paper and fuel show major benefits for combating the greenhouse effect, as we would keep trees alive and allow them to grow and keep 10 times more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Hemp is an annually renewable resource, such that the carbon dioxide it emits when used as gasoline is recycled to keep the plant alive during its next generation. In the ground it expels oxygen and recycles the carbon for our energy uses.

The seed of the hemp plant also offers critical support to humanity, as it is one of the most complete sources of nutrition. It provides all the essential amino acids that provide support for our immune system, skin, hair and thought processes. It can also be made into butter, much like peanut butter. As Udo Erasmus, a PhD nutritionist and lecturer, said, “Hemp butter puts our peanut butter to shame for nutritional value.”

Since hemp can grow in virtually any climate including northern and dessert climates, it offers nutritional support and protein for developing countries.

These are only a few of the countless benefits of hemp. It’s about time we opened our minds and implemented some thoughtful solutions to secure humanity’s future on mother earth.

By Steve Connor

Parts of the Arctic have experienced an unprecedented heatwave this summer, with one research station in the Canadian High Arctic recording temperatures above 20C, about 15C higher than the long-term average. The high temperatures were accompanied by a dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice in September to the lowest levels ever recorded, a further indication of how sensitive this region of the world is to global warming. Scientists from Queen’s University in Ontario watched with amazement as their thermometers touched 22C during their July field expedition at the High Arctic camp on Melville Island, usually one of the coldest places in North America.

“This was exceptional for a place where the normal average temperatures are about 5C. This year we frequently recorded daytime temperatures of between 10C and 15C and on some days it went as high as 22C,” said Scott Lamoureux, a professor of geography at Queen’s.

“Even temperatures of 15C are higher than we’d expect and yet we recorded them for between 10 and 12 days during July. We won’t know the August and September recordings until next year when we go back there but it appears the region has continued to be warm through the summer.”

The high temperatures on the island caused catastrophic mudslides as the permafrost on hillsides melted, Professor Lamoureux said. “The landscape was being torn to pieces, literally before our eyes.”

Other parts of the Arctic also experienced higher-than-normal temperatures, which indicate that the wider polar region may have experienced its hottest summer on record, according to Walt Meir of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado.

“It’s been warm, with temperatures about 3C or 4C above normal for June, July and August, particularly to the north of Siberia where the temperatures have reached between 4C and 5C above average,” Dr Meir said.

Unusually clear skies over the Arctic this summer have caused temperatures to rise. More sunlight has exacerbated the loss of sea ice, which fell to a record low of 4.28 million square kilometres (1.65 million square miles), some 39 per cent below the long-term average for the period 1979 to 2000. Dr Meir said: “While the decline of the ice started out fairly slowly in spring and early summer, it accelerated rapidly in July. By mid-August, we had already shattered all previous records for ice extent.”

An international team of scientists on board the Polar Stern, a research ship operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, also felt the effects of an exceptionally warm Arctic summer. The scientists had anticipated that large areas of the Arctic would be covered by ice with a thickness of about two metres, but found that it had thinned to just one metre.

Instead of breaking through thicker ice at an expected speed of between 1 and 2 knots, the Polar Stern managed to cruise at 6 knots through thin ice and sometimes open water.

“We are in the midst of a phase of dramatic change in the Arctic,” said Ursula Schauer, the chief scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, who was on board the Polar Stern expedition. “The ice cover of the North Polar Sea is dwindling, the ocean and the atmosphere are becoming steadily warmer, the ocean currents are changing,” she said.

One scientist came back from the North Pole and reported that it was raining there, said David Carlson, the director of International Polar Year, the effort to highlight the climate issues of the Arctic and Antarctic. “It makes you wonder whether anyone has ever reported rain at the North Pole before.”

Another team of scientists monitoring the movements of Ayles Ice Island off northern Canada reported that it had broken in two far earlier than expected, a further indication of warmer temperatures. And this summer, for the first time, an American sailing boat managed to traverse the North-west Passage from Nova Scotia to Alaska, a voyage usually made by icebreakers. Never before has a sail-powered vessel managed to get straight through the usually ice-blocked sea passage.

Inhabitants of the region are also noticing a significant change as a result of warmer summers, according to Shari Gearheard, a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre. “People who live in the region are noticing changes in sea ice. The earlier break-up and later freeze-up affect when and where people can go hunting, as well as safety for travel,” she said.

Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Centre, said: “We may see an ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer within our lifetimes. The implications… are disturbing.”

The North-west Passage: an ominous sign

The idea of a North-west Passage was born in 1493, when Pope Alexander VI divided the discovered world between Spain and Portugal, blocking England, France and Holland from a sea route to Asia. As it became clear a passage across Europe was impossible, the ambitious plan was hatched to seek out a route through north-western waters, and nations sent out explorers. When, in the 18th century, James Cook reported that Antarctic icebergs produced fresh water, the view that northern waters were not impossibly frozen was encouraged. In 1776 Cook himself was dispatched by the Admiralty with an Act promising a £20,000 prize, but he failed to push through a route north of Canada. His attempt preceded several British expeditions including a famous Victorian one by Sir John Franklin in 1845. Finally, in 1906 Roald Amundsen led the first trip across the passage to Alaska, and since then a number of fortified ships have followed. On 21 August this year, the North-west Passage was opened to ships not armed with icebreakers for the first time since records began.

Scientists report that arctic ice the size of the state of Florida has melted in the last six days. (ABCNEWS)

By CLAYTON SANDELL

An area of Arctic sea ice the size of Florida has melted away in just the last six days as melting at the top of the planet continues at a record rate.

2007 has already broken the record for the lowest amount of sea ice ever recorded, say scientists, smashing the old record set in 2005.

Currently, there are about 1.63 million square miles of Arctic ice, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. That is well below the record of 2.05 million square miles set two summers ago and could drop lower before the final numbers are in.

North Pole’s Ice Disappears

In just the last six days, researchers say 69,000 square miles of Arctic ice has disappeared, roughly the size of the Sunshine State.

Scientists say the rate of melting in 2007 has been unprecedented, and veteran ice researchers worry the Arctic is on track to be completely ice-free much earlier than previous research and climate models have suggested.

“If you had asked me a few years ago about how fast the Arctic would be ice free in summer, I would have said somewhere between about 2070 and the turn of the century,” said scientist Mark Serreze, polar ice expert at the NSIDC. “My view has changed. I think that an ice-free Arctic as early as 2030 is not unreasonable.”

Sea ice melt will likely reach the absolute minimum in the next few days as temperatures at the North Pole cool and refreezing begins.

Worldwide Climate Implications

Melting sea ice, unlike land-based glaciers like the ones in Greenland and elsewhere, does not raise sea level. But it does play a major role in regulating the planet’s climate by affecting air and ocean currents.

“It will shift some of the weather patterns in ways that we are just beginning to understand,” said Robert Correll, a scientist who chairs the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment and is also the climate change director at the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment in Washington, D.C.

Correll said that white sea ice also acts as a mirror at the top of the planet, reflecting much of the sun’s energy back into space. As it melts, it reveals darker water that absorbs more energy from the sun — further warming the ocean in a process scientists call a “feedback.”

“If there is no ice, the ocean is going to continue to heat, and that is going to accelerate the global warming process,” said Correll.

In coastal villages throughout the Arctic, less sea ice also means less protection from wind and waves that erode the shoreline. Less ice also means less habitat for animals like polar bears and other marine animals.

Last week, the United States Geological Survey issued a report that found if the ice continued to decline at the current rate, two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population will disappear by 2050.

“Our results do give me some concern,” said Steve Armstrup, a Polar Bear Project Leader with the USGS. “In Northern Alaska, where I’ve been working for these years, there may not be polar bears. So as Polar bears go, that probably reflects to a great extent a lot of things that are happening to other organisms in the Arctic system.”

Northwest Passage Opening

The melting ice is also opening up the fabled Northwest Passage, long-sought by explorers and shipping companies as a short cut between Europe and East Asia.

Historically, that debate has been largely theoretical because the passage has been frozen and impassable. But in August, satellite images showed the passage has now become more navigable than ever, fueling a hot debate between the United States and Canada over who should control it.

At a summit last month in Montebello, Canada, the leaders of the two nations expressed their disagreement.

“Canada’s position is that we intend to strengthen our sovereignty in the Arctic area, not only military, but economic, social, environmental and others,” said Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“We believe it’s an international passageway,” President Bush countered a moment later.

The latest satellite image shows a clear, wide path running through the Arctic that has major implications for global commerce.

For example, ships that must currently go around South America’s Cape Horn because they are too big to traverse the Panama Canal could save about 10,000 miles out of their shipping route.

The passage also saves about 5,000 miles when shipping between Europe and Asia.

Canada, the United States and Denmark are also competing for resources as melting Arctic ice reveals potential deposits of oil and gas.

A mini-submarine placed a Russian flag at the North Pole last month in a symbolic claim to that country’s share of Arctic resources.

Environmental groups worry that increased traffic through the Arctic could put the natural resources in jeopardy if there is an oil spill or other disaster in the remote region.

By Nick Martin

The police and Downing Street lined up with BAA today to warn climate change protesters not to disrupt Heathrow Airport.

The camp for climate action is itself still a modest affair, but it is overshadowed by a row about tactics.

It’s home for the next week to hundreds of climate change activists - who are being watched by hundreds of police.

Heathrow’s climate camp is designed to raise awareness of the environmental impact of aviation, and the airport’s expansion plans.

Yet there are fears it could become the base for illegal protests. Downing Street has warned that any disruption would be unacceptable.

Campaigners, meanwhile, have condemned police for using anti-terrorism powers to question those attending.

Protesters began setting up the camp yesterday on a large rectangular piece of wasteland. It’s just a few hundred yards north of Heathrow’s perimeter fence.

By Brent Jessop
RINF Alternative News
Knowledge Driven Revolution.com

Let me share a little story before I get into a new government plan that will save you money (can you spot the oxymoron?). About a year ago I went to a presentation at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada given by someone directly trained by Al Gore. According to the presenter (a grown man with family), he applied (written essay and all) and was accepted to travel to the southern US with a bunch of other like minded folk to learn how to give the famous presentation from ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. These well trained Sustainable Soldiers (my term not theirs) then give presentations back home in their respective communities to anyone who will listen.

The presentation was nothing special, your typical global warming fear mongering and kindergarten simple science (especially the Al Gore version). But one thing that he did mention was that he made the decision to drive slower on major freeways to further reduce his ‘carbon footprint’. And he didn’t care how many cars or trucks passed him.

Other then the inside joke when we passed a slow moving vehicle, that was the end of my Sustainable Soldier experience.

Drive Slow Children

The Globe and Mail reports:

“Ontario Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield has proposed new rules that would force large commercial vehicles - weighing at least 12,000 kilograms - to use electronic limiters to cap speeds at 105 kilometres an hour.”

…

“Many of the larger trucking companies operating in Ontario use speed limiters - microchips which regulate a vehicle’s top speed - in part for the economic and environmental benefits, as well as the increased safety factor. Vehicles use less fuel when they slow down”

So there it is. What the Sustainable Soldier does voluntarily the truckers with be forced to do. Of course, it is for their own good, all that money they will save. Unless they get paid by the kilometer, then it will take them that much longer for the same pay. Or worse still, imagine a refrigerated truck in the middle of July. Think how much more energy will get used in the slower haul, especially after global warming really gets going. Never mind, 105 km/hr is optimal for everyone. Big brother knows best. Besides, how could you leave such a decision to the individual?

So how long will it be until your car is governed at an environmentally acceptable speed?

By David Usborne

The executive director of California’s air-quality board, which is responsible for implementing the state’s landmark environmental emissions law, has resigned amid allegations that the office of the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been deliberately getting in the way of its work.

The unexpected ruckus is deeply embarrassing for a governor who has visited capitals worldwide, including London last week, touting his state as an example to everyone because of its supposed commitment to cutting noxious emissions by 25 per cent by 2020.

Catherine Witherspoon announced she was stepping down from the board just days after the Governor fired its chairman, Robert Sawyer, on the grounds he was dragging his feet in imposing the cuts on industry. He, however, has claimed the contrary - that he was moving too fast and that aides to the Governor were trying to hold up measures that would hurt business.

The Governor’s administration has “lost its way on air quality,” Ms Witherspoon said after her departure. She said the charge that she and Mr Sawyer were not doing more to implement the new law, the Global Warming Solutions Act, was nothing if not “Orwellian - a triumph of appearances over reality”.

Indeed, Mr Sawyer released transcripts this week of voice-mails he had received from aides to the Governor requesting that the board, at a recent meeting, limit itself to adopting three new measures on cutting emissions, when it had four on its agenda.

“Every signal the board got from the Governor’s office staff was, ‘Slow down, don’t hurt industry, don’t get ahead of us on greenhouse gases’,” Ms Witherspoon said. “They were ordering us to find ways to reduce costs and satisfy lobbyists.” She added: “I’m happy to be going out with a roar and not a whimper. My objective is to make sure people understand what is going on so it can be straightened out.”

Consumer groups and Democrat leaders have been quick to express their disappointment. “The Governor has made his name across the world as the jolly green governor, and now we have the regulators saying his inner circle has pressured them to go slow because the big industries don’t want us to go too quickly,” said Jamie Court, of the Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights.

The Democrat leader of California’s State House, Fabian Nunez, also decried the loss of the two members of the board. “The only reason why they’re gone is clear: the administration was tying their hands behind their backs in not allowing them to do the job that they needed to do.”

Critics of the Governor say he is resisting imposing mandatory caps on industry in favour of market mechanisms to reduce emissions, in part because of his past dependence on them for campaign contributions.

So far, Mr Schwarzenegger has attempted to stay out of the fray. “I don’t get caught up in this dialogue,” he said.

Mr Sawyer has insisted he was fired because he defied the Governor’s order to shelve the offending fourth measure, which will require the car industry to develop new types of paint that better absorb heat and therefore lessen the need for air conditioning. The three other measures involved reducing methane emissions from dumps, banning the sale of replacement refrigerant for car air conditioners, and requiring oil companies to produce petrol with a lower carbon dioxide component.

RINF Alternative News

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• Chemtrails Dossier 
• Weathering the Weather

Steve Connor

The makers of a Channel 4 documentary which claimed that global warming is a swindle have been accused of fabricating data by one of the scientists who participated in the film.

The Great Global Warming Swindle was broadcast on 8 March and has been criticised by leading scientists for errors, distortions and misrepresentations.

The film has also been referred to the regulatory watchdog Ofcom which is considering a complaint from 37 senior scientists that the programme breached the broadcasting code on the misrepresentation of views and facts.

Now even a climate sceptic whose dissenting views were used by the film- makers to bolster their claims about the “lies” and “swindles” of global warming has accused the documentary of promulgating falsehoods.

Eigil Friis-Christensen, director of the Danish National Space Centre, has issued a statement accusing the film-makers of fabricating data based on his work looking at the links between solar activity and global temperatures.

Dr Friiss-Christensen said that a graph he had produced some years ago showing the link between fluctuations in global temperatures and changes in solar activity - sunspot cycles - over the past 400 years had been doctored. The documentary used the graph to pour scorn on the idea that the global warming in recent decades is the result of man-made emissions of carbon dioxide. Solar activity, the programme stated, is the cause of global warming in the late 20th century.

However, Dr Friiss-Christensen has issued a statement with Nathan Rive, a climate researcher at Imperial College London and the Centre for Climate Research in Oslo, distancing himself from the C4 graph. He said there was a gap in the historical record on solar cycles from about 1610 to 1710 but the film-makers made up this break with fabricated data that made it appear as if temperatures and solar cycles had followed one another very closely for the entire 400-year period.

“We have reason to believe that parts of the graph were made up of fabricated data that were presented as genuine. The inclusion of the artificial data is both misleading and pointless,” Dr Friis-Christensen said.

“Secondly, although the commentary during the presentation of the graph is consistent with the conclusions of the paper from which the figure originates, it incorrectly rules out a contribution by anthropogenic [man-made] greenhouse gases to 20th century global warming,” he said.

Dr Friis-Christensen, a physicist, believes that solar cycles play an important role in climate change and that not enough effort has gone into addressing the theory. The fabricated data did not, he said, make any difference to the overall view he takes but he is still critical of the way the film handled the scientific evidence. Asked by The Independent whether the documentary was scientifically accurate, Dr Friiss-Christensen said: “No, I think several points were not explained in the way that I, as a scientist, would have explained them … it is obvious it’s not accurate.”

The C4 programme also used out-of-date solar cycle data relating to the past 30 or 40 years which made it appear as if temperatures and solar activity were rising together when in fact solar activity has levelled off for the past few decades. “After 1985 we don’t see any rise or shortening of the solar cycles compared to what we saw in the temperature [record],” Dr Friiss-Christensen said.

Dr Friis-Christensen is the second scientist to appear on the programme who has criticised the way the film was made. Professor Carl Wunsch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said that the way his interview was edited gave the misleading impression that he was not concerned about rising levels of carbon dioxide - a diametrically opposite view to his stated position.

Martin Durkin, who wrote and directed the programme, was unavailable for comment but admitted in an email to Mr Rive that the graph was wrong. “Thank you for highlighting the error on the 400-year graph. It is an annoying mistake which all of us missed and is being fixed for all future transmissions of the film. It doesn’t alter our argument,” Mr Durkin said.

However, the graph and its fabricated data will still be included in the DVD of the programme which went on sale yesterday. The advertising for the DVD says: “Everything you’ve ever been told about global warming is probably untrue. This film blows the whistle on the biggest swindle in modern history.”

Mr Durkin has already apologised for an error in another graph used in the film which had to be corrected before the film’s second transmission on the digital channel More 4.

The scientists who have written to Ofcom include Sir John Houghton, the former chief executive of the Met Office, Lord May of Oxford, a former government chief scientist and past-president of the Royal Society, and Professor Chris Rapley, director of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge. In a letter to Mr Durkin they call for changes to the programme before the DVD version is released, even though DVDs are not covered by the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

“So serious and fundamental are the misrepresentations that the distribution of the DVD without their removal amounts to nothing more than an exercise in misleading the public,” they say.