Climate Change Impacts in China
The received wisdom used to be that climate change would have relatively little impact on China. But that views seems outdated. Like the United States, China is large and geographically diverse; as such, the impacts of climate change vary across the country. For example, the Chinese government reports that the “frequency of heat waves in summer has increased and droughts have worsened in some areas, especially in northern China; heavy precipitation has increased in ...
CONTINUE READINGPeak Oil Prices?
Oil prices are currently being pushed up by uncertainty about supply from the Middle East. Well before that crisis, Deutsche Bank was predicting $175/barrel oil five years from now. Predicting future oil prices is a tricky venture, and the track record for past predictions has been mixed. The two factors that foretell price increases over the long-term are the exhaustion of cheap, easily accessible sources of oil; and increased demand as China and India get into t...
CONTINUE READINGNot even NASA rockets are cooperating with climate scientists these days
I heard renowned climate scientist Dr. James Hansen speak at UCLA last week, and one of his key messages was that we need to get a better handle on the importance and effect of aerosols on the Earth's warming. He was quite excited about the launch of a new NASA satellite that would gather data to tell us more about aerosols and their effects. This morning, that launch failed and the satellite crashed into the southern Pacific. Read the story here and here. A...
CONTINUE READINGThe question of triage
The latest Delta report issued by the Public Policy Institute of California goes well beyond the Delta. Titled Managing California's Water: From Conflict to Resolution, the report takes on the entire water management structure set up by state and federal law. There's a lot in the report, which should be required reading for anyone interested in California water management, or more generally in the tensions between environmental protection and resource exploitation. Perh...
CONTINUE READINGMichele Bachmann’s Unconstitutional Light-Bulb Bill
Michele Bachmann has introduced legislation to overturn the statute requiring the use of energy-efficient light bulbs, according to E&E News. One feature of the bill is its escape valve: Bachmann's bill would allow the mandate to stand if the Government Accountability Office can prove the energy efficient bulbs would meet three criteria: that they provide real cost savings for consumers, significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and do not produce health risk...
CONTINUE READINGBoehner Tweet on Plastics Sums Up Republican Disdain for the Environment
In hardly the biggest news story of the day, but one that really irks me, House Speaker John Boehner tweeted this morning, "The new majority -- plasticware is back." He's referring to the move by the Republican majority to eliminate deposed Speaker Nancy Pelosi's initiative to green the House of Representatives. The initiative included -- among other things -- the use of biodegradable trays, flatware and coffee cups in place of traditional plastic and styrofoam in th...
CONTINUE READINGDesigning City Streets That Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
In the U.S., city planners have typically designed streets to enhance the comfort of the driver. Unfortunately, the very qualities that serve this goal tend to discourage foot traffic, bicycles, and transit use. The result is that standard street design tends to encourage activities that increase greenhouse gas emissions, and discourage more efficient ways to move around. In a new report from the City Streets Project (an initiative from Berkeley Law’s Center for Law...
CONTINUE READINGThe Huge Benefits of Air Pollution Regulation
EPA has a new report on the benefits from the increased pollution controls required under the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. According to E&E, A two-decade-old crackdown on smog and soot under the Clean Air Act will yield about $2 trillion in annual benefits by 2020, according to a study that was released by U.S. EPA this morning and was touted as proof that the embattled agency's rules are an economic boon for the American people. Those rules prevented an ...
CONTINUE READINGIndia Coal Tax to be Used for Carbon Sinks and Clean Energy Technology
This is how you are supposed to do it. Via the Hindu, Indian Finance Minister Mukherjee's Budget uses carbon charges to combat climate change: The [tax] slapped on coal in last year's budget will help pay for schemes to protect and regenerate forests and clean up polluted sites announced in this year's Budget. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has allocated Rs. 200 crore each to the Green India Mission, an ambitious ten-year Mission which is a key element of India's...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Economists Are Right and the Tea Party is Wrong About Government
Tea Party libertarians and their congressional supporters hate environmental regulation. They could learn a lot from Econ 101. Economists generally believe in free markets, and most of them are party hard-nosed in assessing arguments for regulation. Nevertheless, they endorse two arguments for government action. The first economic reason for regulation is the existence of "externalities." Externalities are just costs that one person or business can impose on ano...
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