Over the last 5 years, Portugal has forged ahead in the use of renewable energy.  Now nearly 45 percent of the electricity in their grid comes from renewable sources, up from 17% five years ago.  They use a mixture of wind, hydropower, solar and ocean waves, according to an article in the New York Times.

Next year, in 2011, Portugal expects to be the first nation to establish a national network of charging stations for electric cars.

Prime Minister José Sócrates used a landslide victory in 2005 to push through the program over the objections of the country's fossil fuel companies.  It cost him.  In 2009 he won by a far smaller percentage.  It cost the ratepayers as well.  The Portuguese have long paid about twice what Americans pay for electricity and prices have risen 15% in the last five years, accompanied by much grumbling.

A new study has found that 1/3 of all counties in the lower 48 states will likely face water shortages by 2050.   The study, commissioned by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) assessed future water availability in the face of a changing climate.   The study found that climate change is likely to exacerbate existing pressures on water resources caused by population and economic growth.   Examining the impact of global warming on water supply and demand, they found that 1,100 counties will face higher risks of water shortages.  More than 400 will face very high risks of water shortages. 

The Department of Natural Resources has announced partnerships with 4 pilot biomass projects, including one involving IWF and our partner Atlas Pellets, the largest wood pellet producer in Washington State, to move renewable energy from woody biomass along in Washington State.  In a Press Release, Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark said that the four partnerships "will put their technologies to work using forest products they purchase from state trust lands to produce clean, sustainable energy and rural jobs".

As we hear about the Copenhagen talks and what is coming out of them, very little is being discussed about the impact of US agricultural practices and climate change.  The Seattle Times had an article up last week about a UW climate scientist, David Battisti, and his shift in interest from the looking at the regional impacts of global warming to understanding the impacts of climate change on crops around the world. 

David Owen, New Yorker staff writer and author, has written a book, "Green Metropolis" about the energy savings inherent in living and working in highly populated and dense areas.   Owen says that the most realistic way to reduce our carbon footprints is to live in "densely-settled, pedestrian-friendly, public-transit-oriented cities like New York".  Furthermore, he suggests that cities such as New York stop worrying about what he calls "environmental fixations" such as residential solar panels and LEED-certified buildings and instead concentrate on “old-fashioned quality-of-life concerns” such as education, crime, noise, and recreational amenities in order to draw people back into the cities.

Just two weeks before the the start of the international climate meetings in Copenhagen, both the US and China have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  President Obama pledged a provisional target, the first time that the U.S. has offered even a tentative promise on Wednesday.  Obama made a commitment to cut emissions by 17% of 2005 levels.

Today, the Chinese government announced that it had set a target to reduce "carbon intensity" by 40-45 % of 2005 levels.