The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a slogan that captures its odd position in the federal hierarchy: “NOAA may be the most important agency you’ve never heard of.” That contradiction was on full display earlier this month, when President Obama announced a reorganization plan for the Commerce Department. Some agencies were to join Commerce. But NOAA, which received only a brief mention , was to move to the Interior Department . Read full article > >

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NOAA’s proposed move raises questions about its role

The attempt by Newt Gingrich to cover his tracks on climate change has been one of the shabbier little episodes of the 2012 presidential campaign. His forthcoming sequel to “A Contract with the Earth” was to feature a chapter by Katharine Hayhoe, a young professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas Tech University. Hayhoe is a scientist, an evangelical Christian and a moderate voice warning of climate disruption. Read full article > >

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Climate and the culture war

Tropical forests in Africa may be more resilient to future climate change than the Amazon and other regions, say scientists.

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Africa’s rainforests ‘resilient’

Amid signs that the overall jobs climate was improving, manufacturing stands out as an area of surprising strength.

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High & Low Finance: U.S. Manufacturing Is a Bright Spot for the Economy

Possible cause of climate change.

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Hybrid Sharks Discovered

President Barack Obama returns Monday to a chilly Washington, going from a family holiday in Hawaii to a decidedly different climate rife with political battles, overseas crises and continued economic uncertainty

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Obama back from Hawaii vacation

Convertible or no convertible? That was the critical question. I was booking a rental car for a January trip to California’s Napa Valley, while simultaneously checking the wine country weather online. Something I’d been doing for days. As if I could affect climate change by hitting “refresh.” The forecast called for highs in the measly low 50s with a likelihood of rain. No convertible. Read full article > >

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In California’s Napa Valley, winter is a season that really cuts the mustard

The Egyptian American Community Foundation has been around for nearly a decade, supporting humanitarian and social incentives both in Egypt and in New York City. This summer, the Foundation, which is a non-profit, opened an office in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn because it wanted to focus on community serviced based work.  Bay Ridge is home to a large Arab-American community. Its top three demographics are Egyptian, Yemeni, and Moroccan. “Previously, we were based on fundraising, we worked a lot with Habitat for Humanity and did a lot of things overseas in Egypt rather than in the community itself,” explained Asmi Fathelbab, who works out of the Bay Ridge office. “People are always under the assumption that the [Bay Ridge] population is Palestinian, but it’s really not,” Fathelbab said, adding that the Egyptian community has been established for quite some time, but some members are still adjusting. The Foundation offers a plethora of services to all communities in the neighborhood. It’s goal is to help new immigrants get acclimated with their new society and offer them services that even many American-born people do not know how to acquire, such as immigration lawyers, tax help or where to get food stamps.

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Egyptian American Community Foundation Opens Brooklyn Office

A month after joining Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi in a televised call to fight climate change in 2008, Newt Gingrich pivoted to a much different message: Increase domestic drilling and block legislation aimed at implementing a “cap-and-trade” system to curb carbon pollution. “We could drill here, drill now and pay less,” Gingrich said in a May 2008 video for his now-defunct nonprofit group, American Solutions for Winning the Future. Read full article > >

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Donations flowed to Gingrich’s nonprofit after he shifted on energy issues in 2008

Saves $14B in fines for climate-change treaty.

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Canada Pulls Out of Kyoto Protocol

Effectively addressing climate change will require attention to energy production, transportation, agriculture, geopolitics and macroeconomics, matters beyond the purview of environmental officials.

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News Analysis: Climate Change Expands Far Beyond an Environmental Issue

Agreement on new measures to combat global warming appears within reach at the UN climate talks in South Africa, but time is running short.

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Time runs short for climate deal

For the entirety of the Republican presidential race to date, former Utah governor Jon Huntsman has been a side story. Huntsman’s biography (he returned to run straight from a gig as the Obama Administration’s ambassador to China), his centrist stances on issues like climate change and his generally moderate tone all seemed to be a fundamental mismatch for a Republican Party seething with white-hot anger at President Obama . Read full article > >

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Jon Huntsman, conservative alternative?

The UK’s Climate Change Secretary issues a call to arms for a credible and binding deal at a UN climate summit in Durban, warning that time runs short.

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Climate talks ‘at decision time’

Lack of urgency in Durban’s meeting halls and pressing issues elsewhere threaten to block progress as the UN climate summit enters its final days.

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Climate talks ‘lacking urgency’