Month: October 2009

Why You Should Worry About Climate Change Even If You Don’t Think It Is Going To Happen

Even if you think that carbon emissions won’t cause uncertainty, you should think seriously about hedging that bet.

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Meeting the Energy Needs of the Global Poor

A billion people rely on primitive smoky cookstoves that damage their health and cause significant global warming. Much more needs to be done to address this problem.

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Environmental “Poetry” (Yet Again)

There once was a coal company, Which fought cap-and-trade mightily. “Costs too much,” they complained, “Emissions can’t be contained, Or our profits will face jeopardy.” There once was a scientist (or two), Whose work couldn’t pass peer review: “It’s all cosmic rays, Or perhaps high-level haze, Or something else besides plain CO2.”

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Optimism on a Climate Bill?

At least, optimism  seems to be the White House message, according to a TPM report: On Friday the president urged speed in the broader shift in U.S. energy priorities and said he believed lawmakers — many of whom are skeptical of the energy bill — are following. “It is a transformation that will be made …

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More Environmental “Poetry”

A couple of ditties sent to us by some friends: There once was a climate denier Who said, “Let the carbon go higher. From the facts let us run, ‘Cause coal’s cheap by the ton, And who cares if the planet’s on fire?” There once was a man named Inhofe, Whose knowledge of science was …

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Two Important New Papers About Climate Policy

The latest issue of Science has two key papers on climate policy.  First, Tim Searchinger, Dan Kammen (a faculty member at ERG), and others argue that an accounting exemption for bioenergy that appears in the Kyoto Protocol, the European carbon trading scheme and draft legislation on Capitol Hill treats all biofuels as “carbon neutral” even …

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UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy launches new website, publishes climate policy issue

Forgive me for a little boasting about our great student-run environmental law journal, which has just launched a new website with downloadable content and published a terrific, policy-oriented issue (together with the Emmett Center) with lessons from state leaders across the country on tackling climate change.    The issue focuses on how states are addressing the climate …

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New GAO Report on Adaptation

GAO has released an important report on adaptation.  This is a subject that is just beginning to get the attention it deserves. Key findings: The challenges faced by federal, state, and local officials in their efforts to adapt fell into three categories, based on GAO’s analysis of questionnaire results, site visits, and available studies. First, …

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Oil Shale, Greenhouse Gas, and Federal Lands

Back in 2005, a Rand report assessed the merits of pursuing oil shale (a rock formation particularly prevalent in the U.S.) as an option for extracting liquid transportation fuel. The authors said: “Heating oil shale for retorting, whether above ground or in situ, requires significant energy inputs. Over at least the next few decades, this …

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Saving the Polar Bear: The Saga Continues

Follow-up:  Greenwire now (Oct. 22) has more details: The Obama administration today proposed protecting more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska as critical habitat for the polar bear — an area the administration said would be the largest the government has ever put forward in a bid to protect an imperiled species. The Interior Department’s …

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