On the Lack of a Refrigerator
So my family just moved into a new house the other day, but the refrigerator won't arrive from the factory for another few days. This condition has vast environmental implications. Really. My headache for the past few days has been: how to store food? Even I have the basic competence to prepare a meal without refrigerated products, but how does one keep the food around overnight and later? What do I pack for my 6-year-old daughter's lunch for the next day? (An...
CONTINUE READINGScaling Up Clean Energy
Science has a special issue on the problem of taking clean energy to scale. News stories highlight some of the challenges associated with making this energy transition, Perspectives take an in-depth look at how researchers hope to scale up biofuels development, and a Review discusses a two-stage approach for expanding nuclear power generation. Compared to other technology sectors, the distinctive feature of renewable energy is this need to ramp up to scale. Soft...
CONTINUE READINGJump-Starting Clean Tech
A new report illuminates the role of the stimulus package in energizing Clean Tech. Three of the four areas discussed in the report fall into this category; the fourth relates to medical research. 1. Modernizing transportation, including advanced vehicle technology and high-speed rail. Among other things, this includes $2 billion in advanced battery and electric drive component manufacturing and $2.4 billion in loans to support three of the world’s first electric ca...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Change and El Nino
From dot.earth: Federal researchers have published work concluding that a particular variant of the periodic El Niño warmups of the tropical Pacific Ocean is becoming more frequent and stronger. The pattern appears to fit what is expected from human-driven warming of the global climate, said the researchers . . . The 2009-2010 El Nino event was the strongest on record. The researchers also said that the trend did not fit with the record of natural variability in th...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Clearing House on Scientific Review Panel
The California Report correspondent Amy Standen recently recounted the dismissal (or failure to reappoint, depending on your perspective) of a group of scientists from CalEPA’s Scientific Review Panel. Little explanation for the action were given, although Standen notes that John Froines, a professor in the UCLA School of Public Health, also chaired a committee that recently took state regulators to task regarding plans to register methyl iodide as a pesticide. Pac...
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia legislature considers environmental bills
The California Legislature has several environmental and land use bills in front of it right now. Under state law, the legislature must act by August 31 in order to send any of these bills to the Governor for signature. Here's a quick summary of the pending legislation, with some links for further info. (Current information on the status of any California bill, including amendments, is available here.) In no particular order: AB 1011 would provide tax credits for...
CONTINUE READINGThe SG Brief in Connecticut v. AEP: WORSE than you think
Okay, so it's bad enough that the Obama Administration has decided to unilaterally disarm itself in the struggle against climate change. For you law geeks out there (and you know who you are), the SG has gone even further to make these suits impossible in the future. It does this by arguing that the state attorneys general do not have prudential standing to bring this suit. Now, you might say, "wait a minute! Didn't the Supreme Court already decide, in Massachuse...
CONTINUE READINGObama Sides With the Polluters
This is pretty self-explanatory: The Obama administration has urged the Supreme Court to toss out an appeals court decision that would allow lawsuits against major emitters for their contributions to global warming, stunning environmentalists who see the case as a powerful prod on climate change. Read the whole thing. It's hard for me to tell whether this is craven or stupid. Note that the SG didn't have to take a position on this case. This represents the administ...
CONTINUE READINGEnergy Policy: Kicking Butt and Taking Names
Steve, you write: This is not just about ceiling insulation and more heat-reflective roofs. It also has to do with the ability of electric generators to convert heat to power, the elimination of line losses from the transmission grid, and the improvement of fuel delivery systems to avoid leakage. It has to do with strategic use of “distributed” generation – those solar cells, wind turbines, and geothermal heating districts we construct right where the demand is...
CONTINUE READINGClean Ports Act — Dead on Arrival (in the Senate)
An impressive coalition of environmental groups, labor organizations, local governments, and economic development agencies have teamed up to sponsor the Clean Ports Act of 2010, introduced on July 29th by Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York (who looks something like a cube but is an effective and conscientious legislator), and co-sponsored by 67 members of Congress. As I read it, the Act would essentially allow state and local governments to set air quality standards for v...
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