Rhode Island joins 10 other states to cut emissions. On Dec. 29 Governor Carcieri signed a memorandum of understanding that links Rhode Island with 10 other states in an effort to lower the amount of carbon emissions produced by cars, buses and trucks. [News Source]

This is global warming? In Florida, the orange trees are freezing their buds off, and a prolonged, heartless chill has iced innocent iguanas. In Iowa, wind chills dropped to 35 below last week, and in Europe it snowed in Madrid and Paris. [News Source]

U.K. climate official presses security concerns in meeting with Biden. The United Kingdom’s climate envoy met with Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday to discuss the potential national security threats posed by climate change. [News Source]

Climate change experts clash over sea-rise ‘apocalypse.’ Climate science faces a new controversy after the Met Office denounced research from the Copenhagen summit which suggested that global warming could raise sea levels by 6ft by 2100. [News Source]

Corona measuring carbon footprint. Corona joins a host of California cities measuring their carbon footprints to comply with a state law aimed at halting global warming. [News Source]

The end of consumerism: Our way of life is “not viable.” Ditch the dog; throw away (sorry, recycle) those takeaway menus; bin bottled water; get rid of that gas-guzzling car and forget flying to far-flung places. These are just some of the sacrifices necessary if we are to survive climate change, according to a new report. [News Source]

County seeks to reduce its carbon footprint. Napa County now has a ballpark estimate of its greenhouse gas emissions, credited as the source of global warming. The numbers are daunting. [News Source]

Hazardous waste gets special treatment. Toxic, corrosive and highly volatile waste materials generated in Abu Dhabi from sources as wide-ranging as batteries, pesticides and solvents will be disposed of at a specialised plant outside the capital, a top waste-disposal official said. [News Source]

River Halda to lose its fish resources. The Halda River in Chittagong, considered as the major source of Indian carp, will likely lose its fish resources over the next two decades due to intrusion of saline water from sea-level rise, as well as overfishing, industrial pollution, and erosion, fisheries experts warn. [News Source]

New federal smog rules could be a surprise to some counties. Lenawee County and several counties in southwest Michigan are among hundreds nationwide that could be affected by stricter air quality rules for smog proposed Thursday by the Obama administration. [News Source]

Who’s sleeping now?. I am more convinced than ever that when historians look back at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, they will say that the most important thing to happen was not the Great Recession, but China’s Green Leap Forward. [News Source]