One Step Backward, One Nano Step Forward. . . Maybe
The action on nanomaterials continued at the federal level in August, advancing forward in one area (tentatively) and faltering in another (perhaps temporarily). First, on August 4, the Interagency Testing Committee (ITC) issued its 64th report. (The ITC is an independent advisory committee charged with identifying potentially toxic chemicals for which there is inadequate testing data.) The report noted that EPA intends to pursue testing/information collection rule...
CONTINUE READINGThe Royal Society’s geoengineering report
We had a flurry of posts on geoengineering a while back (see here, here, here, and here). If you want to learn more about geoengineering, a great resource is this report, just issued by the Royal Society. It clearly explains the background, the approaches being proposed (which divide broadly into technologies for removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and technologies for reducing the input of solar radiation), and the risks associated with those approaches. The k...
CONTINUE READINGPlease don’t take my sunshine away
Just when we thought we were gaining momentum in the effort to get solar panels installed throughout the state, the word from Napa is that thieves are stealing ground-based solar panels from wineries. While the problem may not be widespread yet, it reveals a potential challenge for ground-based solar installations (a topic that Ken mentions in his post here). This problem could be particularly acute for solar panels installed along highways, as Oregon is pioneering. ...
CONTINUE READINGCan EPA kick-start climate legislation?
The San Francisco Chronicle this morning quotes EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson as saying that her agency will soon finalize its greenhouse endangerment finding (notwithstanding the Chamber of Commerce's absurd demand for an adjudicatory hearing). As the story says, "Supporters of climate change legislation are hoping the threat of EPA-mandated limits will spur congressional action." Although the House passed the Waxman-Markey bill in June, its counterpart has not yet b...
CONTINUE READINGTravel is Broadening: Idaho & the Wider Reality of Water Supply and Water Waste
They say that travel is broadening. The recent experience of this Californian in the wilds of Idaho attests to the wisdom of that axiom. Earlier this month, I had to journey to Idaho to attend a conference and give a talk. While there, I listened with interest as a former Idaho Supreme Court justice and water law expert mused that, a couple of decades ago, Idaho's greatest water-related fear was that thirsty Californians would somehow commandeer Idaho's water reso...
CONTINUE READING“Removing the Roadblocks” op-ed
Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and I had an op-ed published in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle that outlined steps to remove the barriers to more sustainable development. The op-ed is based on findings from the report that the environmental law programs at UCLA and UC Berkeley and the California Attorney General's Office released last week, entitled "Removing the Roadblocks: How to Make Sustainable Development Happen Now." I blogged about it here. Intere...
CONTINUE READINGThe Fire This Time
Here in southern California, we are currently living through our annual late August-early September ritual of wildfires. In the San Fernando Valley, where I live, the air is heavy with smoke, and people are staying inside. It was worse in Pasadena, where I attend a Quaker meeting, and where the houses of several Friends are in danger of going up in flames. The advantage this year is that the Santa Ana winds have not come in yet. But it is somewhat misleading for m...
CONTINUE READINGInsurance in a Complex World
Roger Cook and Carolyn Kousky make some intriguing points in an article in the Summer issue of Resources. They discuss three problems confronting insurance companies, all of them probably exacerbated by climate change: fat tails, tail dependence, and micro-correlations. Although the names may not be self-explanatory, these are phenomena with great significance for society's management of risks. One lesson is that it's not enough to worry about the most likely scenari...
CONTINUE READINGRemembering Katrina
Four years ago today, at about this time of day, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana after it's previous brief encounter with Florida. A picture of the landfall is below. I remember thinking that, "as usual," the weather people were hyping the possible impacts. As it turns out, my skepticism was partly justified because the storms impacts would have been considerably smaller if the Army Corps of Engineers had done a competent job building the flood control ...
CONTINUE READINGMovie Stars, Solar Cells
Flowers are beginning to bloom through the cracks in the foundation that formerly was the economy in the state of Michigan. With the precipitous closure of auto manufacturing plants, and the strong ripples throughout the state’s employment base, the state of Michigan has come close to the economic bottom. Now come the opportunities for rebirth. The popular press is replete with stories about fantastic bargains in the inner-Detroit real estate market, with some f...
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