Month: June 2011
Goodby Ski Slopes, Hello Drought
Climate change means not only changes in temperature, but changes in precipitation. These precipitation changes are especially important in arid regions like the American West. There is reason to be concerned about the future of Western climate, according to the latest report from ScienceNow: The Rocky Mountains have lost an unusual amount of springtime snowpack …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Attack on Scientific Freedom
A disturbing report from Science magazine: The news that Australian climate scientists were relocated into secure offices after receiving death threats and abusive e-mails became a political issue in parliament this week. . .. Contacted by ScienceInsider, a spokesperson for the Australian National University in Canberra said, “In response to increasing harassment, including death threats, …
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CONTINUE READINGA GOP Ethanol Trap? Not Likely.
I hope I’m wrong. Jon Chait reports that Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) will force a cloture vote on his proposal to eliminate the ethanol “blending” subsidy, which costs the government about $6 billion annually, is horrible for the environment, and is economically inefficient. His take is that this represents an ideological skirmish between Coburn and …
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CONTINUE READINGWorse Than We Thought
Apparently, the Japanese nuclear crisis was worse than we thought. The Guardian reports: Molten nuclear fuel in three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant is likely to have burned through pressure vessels, not just the cores, Japan has said in a report in which it also acknowledges it was unprepared for an accident of …
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CONTINUE READINGGrandfathering bad air: EPA exempts power plant from new climate and air quality rules
EPA has issued a controversial decision exempting a new, natural-gas power plant proposed for California’s San Joaquin Valley, a region with some of the worst air quality in the country, from the most up-to-date Clean Air Act rules aimed at reducing climate emissions and the pollutants NO2 and SO2. Here’s the E&E story, and here’s the EPA decision, likely to …
CONTINUE READINGDueling Orders and Lots of Confusion in AB 32 Case
Yesteday, I described a California Court of Appeals order lifting the injunction preventing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) from implementing its cap and trade program. The order was apparently issued last Friday afternoon. Even in this age of instantaneous communication, however, apparently neither the Superior Court judge in the case, Earnest H. Goldsmith, nor the lead …
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CONTINUE READINGOf Commerce and Green Evangelism
In 1998, then-Congressman Henry Hyde famously tried to write off an extramarital affair at age 41 as “youthful indiscretion”. I am wondering if President Obama’s Commerce Secretary nominee John Bryson is tempted to use that phrase to explain his long-ago involvement in helping to create the Natural Resources Defense Council. Not that he has anything …
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CONTINUE READINGOn the Advantages of Being Out of the Political Spotlight
Environmental issues haven’t been on the front page much recently, and on the whole I think that’s a good thing. The fact is that budget issues, the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and Medicare have pushed the environment out of the spotlight. Predictions about politics are always hazardous and seem to be getting even …
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CONTINUE READINGBreaking News: AB 32 Cap and Trade Program Allowed to Proceed Pending Appeal
The 1st Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal has temporarily stayed (in other words lifted) the trial court’s injunction preventing the California Air Resources Board from implementing its cap and trade program for greenhouse gas emitters. As Cara blogged previously, the trial court in Association of Irritated Residents v. ARB issued a writ of …
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CONTINUE READINGAssessing the British Ecosystem
The British government has issued a new report assessing the value of the U.K. environment. The assessment is based on an economic evaluation of ecosystem services. For instance, the report found that: • The benefits that inland wetlands bring to water quality are worth up to £1.5 billion per year to the UK; • Pollinators …
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