‘Japan is switching off its last working nuclear reactor, as part of the safety drive since the March 2011 tsunami triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima plant.’

via BBC News – Tomari shutdown leaves Japan without nuclear power.

‘The United States is winning the global clean energy race—at least in terms of luring investment in developing low-carbon technologies. But China appears to have vaulted past competitors to become the leading engine for green manufacturing jobs.’

via This Week in Clean Economy: China Is Leading the Race for Clean Energy Jobs | InsideClimate News.

‘Fifty-four percent oppose doing away with subsidies for oil, gas, coal, nuclear or renewable energy, while 47% favor the idea. Support for building more nuclear power plants has fallen dramatically.’

via Public split over elimination of U.S. energy subsidies, poll finds – latimes.com.

‘Strange, jellyfish-like creatures swarming a coastal nuclear power plant: It might sound like the premise of a cult horror flick, but the invasion has prompted officials at the Diablo Canyon facility in San Luis Obispo to curtail operations for at least a few days.’

via Diablo Canyon reactor gets unwelcome guests – latimes.com.

‘A thousand miniature people have slowly melted away in a Berlin square in an effort to draw attention to melting ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica.’

via Melting men: Thousand ice sculptures left to thaw in the sun to highlight climate change in Arctic | Mail Online.

‘The United States has regained the lead in the clean energy race, investing $48 billion last year to surpass China, which held the world’s top spending spot since 2009, said a study Wednesday.’

via US grabs lead over China in clean energy race – Yahoo! News.

‘Citing its corporate stance that climate change is real, General Motors announced Wednesday that its General Motors Foundation would no longer be funding the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank that has attacked human-caused global warming as “junk science.”’

via GM pulls support for Heartland Institute – latimes.com.

This decision follows a pledge made earlier by Chairman Dan Akerson to look into the Heartland Institute when he spoke at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. See the video report of that appearance.

‘JON SHENK, the director of the new documentary “The Island President,” said he made the movie to give a human face to climate change, in the form of a Maldivian leader who has passionately argued that rising sea levels could wipe out his country unless the world takes action now.’

via ‘The Island President’ and Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives – NYTimes.com.

March 7, 2012 San Francisco.

General Motors Chairman Dan Akerson

General Motors CEO and Chairman Dan Akerson appeared at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco for an interview with Greg Dalton of Climate One.

This video excerpt features Akerson’s comments on many topics, including energy efficiency improvements in the GM line, lithium batteries, climate change, the Heartland Institute, and his personal views on military deployments.

“The first time I was interviewed by the press I was stunned with the following reaction, the guy says do you believe in global warming and I said ‘well ya I do’. Several GM executives says ‘you don’t say that in public’…I think it’s actually healthy to have different points of view and perspectives around the table”

Also see the full length Commonwealth Club version

Select excerpts:

00:48 “I remember President Obama, when I was in private equity, in I think in an unguarded statement of exasperation with the whole industry I guess and at the depth of the recession said “Why can’t they build a car like the Corolla?”, well we did. The best selling compact car in America today is the Cruise, Chevy Cruise,…. and it makes about forty miles per gallon.”

01:42 “We sold as many Volts in the first year as Toyota sold Priuses in their first year. I mean sometimes you have to be a pioneer to do the right thing and kinda shape and mold our own future, so we’ll make investments where we thing the long term future is in our interest.”

“There are economic laws just like there are physical laws, and one of them is you don’t tax production – you tax consumption if you want to impact behavior” ~ Dan Akerson

07:46 “This is the new GM, and rather than sit in the corner and be obstreperous. We want to be part of the solution, we don’t not want to be part of the problem. We live in this country. I have grandchildren and children, and I want them to inherit a better earth than we did.”

Fuel Efficiency and Cleaner Energy
08:55 “We are pushing everything on cleaner energy, more fuel efficient. We have many cars now that are EPA rated at 40 and above, 42. The new Eco Cruise is at 42. We’re coming out with a clean diesel next year for the Cruise. The collator impact, positive impact of all our work on Volt. We’re putting in what we call e-assist on Trucks, we’re putting ‘em on midsized sedans and small cars. For example, the new next generation – if you really want a good car that’ll get good mileage – is the new Malibu that’s coming out. I mean this car has just gotten rave reviews. And we put a battery string in the back. In a congested city like San Francisco, or make any big city in America, we estimate that one in every five minutes your sitting still, or in traffic or a stoplight. Well, you go to, you’ve got your 12 volt battery that’ll run your radio and everything else, but we go to a string of lithium ion batteries in your trunk, and your mileage will jump from anywhere to 25 to 33%. Again, and it’s cleaner, and you’re in the city when you’re on the mode. So you’re seeing the evolution here, and you can see where it’s going over time, and the more creative we are, and the greater energy density that we can get into a cell battery, the better off we’re gonna be.”

“I have grandchildren and children, and I want them to inherit a better earth than we did.” ~ Dan Akerson

Lithium Ion Car Battery Density:
10:57 Dan Akerson “..So here in California the Envia corporation ..that’s a very promising technology, we don’t know if it’s industrialized yet, be we’ve seeded the money…”
Greg Dalton: “We should clarify it’s a company that claims to have made a breakthrough in energy densisty in car batteries”
Dan Akerson ” Yes Lithium – so we’re excited about that because our battery in the Volt is a 400 pound battery, that’s a lot of weight, it gives us 16 kilowatt hours of energy, well, what happens if it’s so dense it’s four times as dense, well gee whiz, we got 64 kilowatts, well what’s that do, that means the battery can run a lot further, instead of 40 miles maybe it’ll run maybe 140 miles….I believe in my lifetime, technology, there’s an ever escalating improvement, and you gotta be optimistic about it that battery technology will improve over the next 5 10 15 20 years.”

War and Peace
11:50 “Unlike a lot of people in this country today, I believe in our political leadership, that they’ll come to the right decision. I actually think it’s a benefit to have served in the military, because I think those are the folks that are the last to want to go to war. And I and would think deeply and hard about committing our young men and women to combat whether it’s Iran, or Vietnam, or Iraq. That’s the citizen in me – I don’t want to speak as a – I want to restrict my commentary to my role as the CEO of General Motors, but I hold these young men and women in the highest regard. It breaks your heart when you hear, I mean they give so much to us”

“…. I share your concern, and pray for peace”.

Update 4/1/12: Dan Akerson followed through on his pledge to look into the Heartland Institute – and as a result GM has cut funding for the group.

‘Citing its corporate stance that climate change is real, General Motors announced Wednesday that its General Motors Foundation would no longer be funding the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank that has attacked human-caused global warming as “junk science.”’

via GM pulls support for Heartland Institute – latimes.com.

report by James George

‘The first leg of the Keystone XL oil pipeline is slated for construction, and President Obama on Thursday sought to remind voters he backs at least this portion of the controversial project.’

via Keystone controversy continues as Obama visits Cushing – Political Hotsheet – CBS News.