Will the Future Be “Made in China”?
Thomas Friedman's column warns that, while we're dithering about climate action, the Chinese are forging ahead in the energy field: What a contrast. In a year that’s on track to be our planet’s hottest on record, America turned “climate change” into a four-letter word that many U.S. politicians won’t even dare utter in public. If this were just some parlor game, it wouldn’t matter. But the totally bogus “discrediting” of climate science has had serious im...
CONTINUE READINGAnd Caldron Bubble
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. Or in this case, vast quantities of natural gas bubbled into the Gulf of Mexico: A vast majority of the natural gas that billowed out of BP PLC's failed well in the Gulf this summer did not escape to the surface and atmosphere. Instead, the gas -- including its main component, methane -- remained trapped deep underwater, priming the bacterial response to the spill, according to research published online ye...
CONTINUE READINGWomen Know More About Climate Change, Men Think They Do
Sociologist Aaron McCright, in a recently published academic article, analysed 7 years of Gallup polling data on environmental issues (from 2001-2008) and reached these startling (not) conclusions: women have a greater scientific understanding of climate change than men do; women are more likely than men to worry that climate change is a large problem; but men think they know more about climate change than they actually do while women think they know less about c...
CONTINUE READINGThe Top Ten Facts You Didn’t Know About Kochgate
10. Until the recent disclosures about funding for Proposition 23 in California, you probably hadn't heard much about Koch Industries because it's a family business, although it does $100 billion in sales per year. 9. Charles Koch co-founded the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank dedicated to saving companies like Koch from the horrors of government regulation. 8. Fred Koch, who founded the company, was a charter member of the John Birch Society, the folks who th...
CONTINUE READINGProp 23 and Little Oil
Prop 23 is getting national attention, including a story in the NY Times: Charles and David Koch, the billionaires who have played a prominent role in financing the Tea Party movement, donated $1 million to the campaign to suspend the Global Warming Solutions Act enacted four years ago, and signaled that they are prepared to invest more in the cause. With their contribution, proponents of the proposition have raised $8.2 million, with $7.9 million coming from energy firm...
CONTINUE READINGProp 23 and the Oil Companies
It is frequently said that "the oil companies" are financing Prop 23. This turns out to be a bit of an overgeneralization. According to Greenwire, While some companies are supporting Proposition 23, Shell Oil Co. opposes it, Chevron Corp. is officially neutral, Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP PLC have decided not to get involved and ConocoPhillips has yet to contribute. Three oil refiners -- Valero Energy Corp., Tesoro Corp. and Koch Industries -- have contributed most of t...
CONTINUE READINGAnd They’re Off…California Proposes New Chemical Regulations
California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control just released its proposed “green chemistry” regulations. The regulations implement Assembly Bill 1879, which is a potential game-changer in how chemicals are regulated. Eschewing the conventional risk management approach embedded in existing federal and state statutes, the regulations require affected manufacturers to engage in an alternatives analysis of consumer products containing “chemicals of concern.�...
CONTINUE READINGPolitics versus Science in the 2010 Election Cycle
Here's some fairly depressing news from Wonk Room: Remarkably, of the dozens of Republicans vying for the 37 Senate seats in the 2010 election, only one — Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware — supports climate action. Even former climate advocates Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) now toe the science-doubting party line. Many of the Senate candidates are signatories of the Koch Industries’ Americans For Prosperity No Climate Tax pledge and the FreedomWorks...
CONTINUE READINGA Vigorous Global Response To a Systemic Issue (Why is Climate Change so Different?)
Imagine a problem: it's global; it stems from an extremely complex, interconnected system; it has major economic implications. Sounds like climate change, or in other words, like the kind of problem that the world can't seem to address effectively. But no, it's not Global Climate Change, it's Global Economic Change. And the world seems to be coalescing without much fuss around major regulatory initiatives. From the NY Times, a story about how the major governments...
CONTINUE READINGWelcoming A New Environmental Law Blog
Pace Law School has launched a new blog, Earth Law. The contributors include these Pace faculty members:David CassutoKarl CoplanAlexandra DunnDaniel EstrinRichard OttingerAnn PowersChristopher Rizzo We'll look forward to reading Green Law in days to come. There's far too much happening in the field for any one blog to cover, and of course, it's always good to have additional perspectives. ...
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