The battle for the Arctic's vast reserves of oil and gas can only be decided by international law, Russia and Denmark said after talks last week in Moscow. Five countries with an Arctic coastline—Russia, the US, Canada, Norway and Denmark through its control of Greenland—have competing claims to the region. Arguing that an underwater ridge links Siberia with the Arctic, Russia plans to claim a vast section of the seabed—with a estimated 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and 30% of undiscovered gas.

James McCarthy, head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), speaking on the eve of the group's annual meeting in Chicago, warned that Barack Obama has just four years to save the planet. "We have a moment right now of extraordinary opportunity, with a new president, positioned with scientific leadership that has known no equal in recent times," he told BBC News. "If in his first term, in the next four years, we don't make significant progress in these areas, then I think the planet is in huge trouble. Without US leadership, which has been sorely lacking, we will not get to where we need to be." (BBC News, Feb. 12)

The US North Pacific Fishery Management Council, spurred by concerns that commercial fishing fleets looking for untapped sources are about to enter waters off northern Alaska opened up by the break-up of the Arctic ice pack, voted Feb. 5 to close those waters to fishing pending studies on the health and sustainability of fish living under the now-retreating ice pack.

From The Guardian, Feb. 8:

Bushfires and global warming: is there a link?
Scientists are reluctant to link ­individual weather events to global warming, because natural variability will always throw up extreme events. However, they say that climate change loads the dice, and can make severe episodes more likely.

President Barack Obama Jan. 26 directed the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the Bush administration decision that prevented California and 17 other states from setting their own, stricter limits on auto emissions. Obama also directed his administration to move forward on tougher fuel-efficiency guidelines for the auto industry in time to cover 2011 model-year cars.

With a short memo on Inauguration Day, President Barack Obama blocked plans to loosen some air quality standards and to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. But he did not stop several other controversial, late-term environmental regulations issued by the Bush administration, including a weakening of the Endangered Species Act, a first step in opening Western lands to oil shale development, leases for oil and gas drilling near some national parks, and the start of a process to allow new oil rigs off the Atlantic, Gulf, Alaska and California coasts. (LAT, Jan. 22)

Researchers meeting at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco said liquefied coal could ultimately have a greater impact on global climate than oil, as it starts to come on line in response to shrinking petrol reserves. "Oil and gas...don't have enough carbon to keep us in the dangerous zone for very long by themselves, but that's assuming we do something about coal," said Pushker Kharecha, a researcher for NASA and Columbia University. Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel, and liquefied coal releases 40% more carbon dioxide than oil when burned.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has been chosen by President-elect Barack Obama for agriculture secretary, the LA Times reports Dec. 17. The Organic Consumers Association warned a month ago against choosing Vilsack, calling him "Monsanto's buddy" and "a shill for agribusiness biotech giants." The OCA delineates six reasons why appointing Vilsack "would be a terrible idea":