It's not that shocking that the US is improving its emissions profile, and the idea that anyone SHOULD be shocked is part of the problem. There are an awful lot of smart, dedicated scientists, engineers, and policy makers working to move the US in the right direction regarding pollution (on, I might add, not nearly enough funding and enduring far too much skepticism.) Take it for what it is worth; we have a long, long way to go, but, to mix metaphors, the first step to getting out of a hole is to stop digging. Or at least dig slower.

#1 We can start by refunding the Hydrogen Intiative.

The new CAFE standards are really going to change the emission profile of the national fleet. Ten years from NW, every car is going to be some sort of hybrid, if not an outright EV.

interesting tidbit: a few years back the Post Office was running a tidy surplus, and was contemplating converting their delivery fleet to electric. That's about the time the GOP imposed that destructive pension requirement on them, which put an end to everything innovative they might have done.

I'm disgusted by Republican's scurrilous accusations against U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. She never lied or tried to deceive anyone. That is slanderous garbage. Peter King repeated that lie again, today, and it must stop. They need to be taught they cannot railroad people. And I sincerely hope Pres. Obama continues to stand up to them and appoints Amb. Rice to Secretary of State.

A spoiler like "SWAT team got him in the end" really needed a bullets-in-buttocks anchor. Got me to look, though.

I think Colorado aced Washington in coffee technology...Dazbog ( http://www.dazbog.com/ )

Downed a few at the Foco (Fort Collins) locale and talked to the owner. He set me up for a smell-tasting where we inhaled (he deeply) from large bags of beans.

They are one of the few coffee stores (and here I include all Seattle based chains) where the drip coffee is really good...not something you avoid and punt to a latte.

@1 .. I agree .. the snide tone the interns take when “reporting” the news always strikes me as aspirational hipster-ism.

I wish they would leave it to the pros, it just comes off as jerky and uninformed at the amateur level

@1- Er, I believe Chelsea added some much needed tongue-in-cheek spice to this morning's items.

Everyone's a critic!

Drought Puts Trees the World Over ‘At the Edge’

As the climate warms, scientists expect an increase in droughts around the world, causing all sorts of problems for water supplies, agriculture, and energy production. Forests will be affected too, naturally, but a new study released Wednesday in Nature shows just how widespread the effects could be.

After looking at 226 tree species at 81 locations around the world, two dozen experts from around the world have determined that fully 70 percent of trees are likely to suffer if conditions get drier — and it doesn’t matter whether those trees live in wet or dry habitats.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/droug…

@4: Yes, but nevertheless the White House (re Obama) DID send Susan Rice out on a fool's errand on those Sunday talk shows. I feel badly for her being thrust into that; causing such a blemish (rightly or wrongly) on her career.

Problem with CO2 emissions figures is they ignore that developed nations have largely outsourced manufacturing to the developing world. So, yes China has become the biggest CO2 polluter but a significantly different picture would likely emerge if consumption was taken into account.

Maglev

This technology screams Pacific Northwest Corridor.

Right now we have three major cities: Portland, Seattle, Vancouver-BC. Individually they are each missing critical facilities or rather have some instances, but smallish.

But imagine 300 mph train service! Seattle to Vancouver-BC, 140 miles, or less than half an hour. Seattle to Portland, 170 miles, so about the same.

With 30 minute travel time, we wouldn't need our own basketball or hockey teams...you could just travel in half an hour to get to the Canucks or Trailblazers!

300 mph means that you could "commute" in from Yakima (140 mi) or Spokane (300mi) in an hour or less. It now takes 30 minutes just to get from SeaTac to downtown!!

Sure, I know...the cost would be high. But imagine a modern job with flex-days where you might have to show up two or even one day a week to the central office?

Isn't it time we started thinking about the entire state of Washington including all the Inland territory as part of one big networked entity. What I have termed the state-city.

When you ponder 300 mph the "City" is no longer a single isthmus of a few square miles, but a state of the 71,000 sq. miles of Washington, the State.

Personally, I don't care about the 500 million Chinese the troll is wringing his hands over. That's the Chinese government's problem, not ours.

Concern troll is concerned.

Congratulations to the Chinese military for landing a fighter jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier, an achievement unlocked by the USA in 1945. Also, i'm pretty sure the Chinese aircraft carrier is a converted Ukrainian freighter.

The supposed Chinese boogeyman is not very scary.

@14 So the US has a moral imperative to lift China out of poverty by buying Chinese-made goods, but all the Americans who have lost their manufacturing jobs over the last few decades can go get stuffed?

@17 Americans putting American interests over other nations' isn't racism, it's nationalism. And the reverse is, at worst, treason.

So wanting a rational trade policy makes one a racist in the troll's book? With that sort of intellectual vigor, he should make quite a splash in the globalism community.

So much for safeguards imposed by the WTO. The nine-floor building that housed all those Bangladeshi workers had no fie escape.

I wish I could make my own clothes (and weave my own fabrics) so that I wouldn't have to support cruel and usual working conditions. Unfortunately, the clothing industry was one of the first things shipped overseas when outsourcing began. No one wanted to pay what American workers demanded. I don't blame the workers. It's a tough, lousy job and the only reason to do it is if you are adequately compensated. And I can't blame families who need to clothe their children as well and as cheaply as possible.

The responsibly has to lie with management here and there.

Most people don't realize that most of this change comes from three things:

1. States representing 2/3 of all US GDP have moved to alternative energy requirements and reducing GHG emissions. The other "subsidized" red states are still being jerkwads.

2. Retired people don't drive when commuter congestion is high, so they don't pollute as much, and they don't drive as often. The aging population has a lot to do with this.

3. The US military and other parts of the US government have been investing heavily in alternative energy sources.

@ 7 Unfortunately Olive Oyl, the pros like to enjoy just a little time off to drink coffee, sleep in, see their families—if only on the weekends. Sorry but afraid you're stuck with us interns for weekend news.

@25, have you noticed I-5 recently? It's congested 6 days a week. And your demographics are a bit off: "retired people" drive whenever they need to. People without jobs have more to do with this issue than geezers, and as the economy picks up, they won't be a factor.

Cash for clunkers and increased CAFE standards are what have improved fleet emissions.

And to reiterate: I don't care about 500 million Chinese. I don't wish them ill, I just don't care.

Although, emissions were stagnant since the turn of the millennium, they dropped noticeably after the financial crash. According to EIA, the causes for lower energy related emissions in 2012 were:
- A mild winter that reduced household heating demand and therefore energy use
- A decline in coal-fired electricity generation, due largely to historically low natural gas prices
- Reduced gasoline demand
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.…

Point #2 suggests that methane emissions should be rising.

Industrial energy consumption shows the biggest drop (4th plot from the top):
http://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions…