Political Climate
Jan 22, 2008
Cold Wave Intensifies in North India, Mercury Dips Further

Newkerala.com

A cold wave intensified its icy grip on North India today with the mercury dropping below zero degree in parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir and Punjab as three more deaths took the nationwide toll in the season to 137. In North Kashmir, Army troops rescued eight members of a family from a snow avalanche in Machil sector, where three soldiers were buried last week after the area experienced more than 10 feet of snowfall. Pilani and Ganganagar of Rajasthan saw the minimum temperature dropping below freezing point while Churu and Mount Abu reported zero degrees.

Jalandhar, recorded the coldest night in the last three decades. Drass, the second coldest place in the world after Siberia and nearby Kargil also reeled under severe cold with maximum and minimum dipping to 10 to 17 degree below normal. Read more here.

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Pictures from earlier this winter of street merchants gathering around fires to keep warm

Note: Also in China, 1,033 houses were toppled by snow as biggest ever snowfall in Yuexi County in the capital Hefei cuts off all highways in province of Shanxi.



Jan 22, 2008
Lawyers Embrace U.S. Global-Warming Practice at $700 an Hour

By Cynthia Cotts, Bloomberg News

Lawyers are becoming some of the best-paid environmentalists. Twenty of the 100 highest-grossing U.S. law firms have started practices advising companies on climate change, according to a Bloomberg survey of the firms’ Web sites. The attorneys help clients finance clean-energy projects and lobby Congress, typically billing $500 to $700 an hour.

Firms including Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Heller Ehrman and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton joined the global warming cause as real-estate and structured-finance attorneys lost jobs to the worst U.S. housing slump in 27 years. The move into climate-change law is gaining traction as Congress considers a mandatory carbon market to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

“These are evolving marketplaces that require scrutiny by law firms to make sure we are in compliance and to take advantage of marketing opportunities,’’ said FirmGreen Chief Executive Officer Steven Wilburn. If you just look at the hourly rate, it seems hard to justify. But if you look at the overall business plan, it’s a cost you have to plan for.’’ Wilburn would not disclose how much FirmGreen pays attorneys.

Climate-change attorneys also advise private-equity firms and hedge funds on clean-energy projects. Worldwide investments in sustainable energy sources such as wind, solar and water power rose 43 percent to $70.9 billion in 2006, according to a UN report.  Read more here.



Jan 22, 2008
Google Philanthropy Targets Global Warming, Poverty, And Disease

Google’s philanthropic arm on Thursday said it is taking aim at global warming, poverty, and pandemics with millions in cash and the Internet giant’s global resources. Google.org Executive Director Larry Brilliant said the group had a ‘brutal’ job selecting priorities from the world’s ills and crafting five core initiatives it feels best match Google’s strengths. Google.org announced more than $25 million in grant money being invested in groups combating environmental, energy, poverty, or health woes. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

The Washington Post reports that “…The initial grants begin to fulfill a pledge made four years ago by Google’s founders to devote about 1 percent of the company’s equity and annual profit to humanitarian causes. Google.org, the philanthropic arm formed in 2006, expects to give away as much as $175 million over the next few years.” [The Washington Post/Factiva]

Read more here.



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