Region: International

Postcard from Barcelona

Looking at the Catalonian path to sustainability

Flying into Barcelona, it becomes immediately obvious that this is a city with its eye on a sustainable future. Right along the waterfront is a large photovoltaic array, perched on four giant supports. It is emblematic of a broader set of initiatives that, for a short time, placed Spain at the forefront of renewable energy …

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Energy Innovation and the Law @ UCLA

A full-day UCLA Law Review symposium on Friday, November 1

The UCLA Law Review is holding a symposium next Friday, November 1 – Toward a Clean Energy Future: Powering Innovation Through Law.  Leading scholars from around the country will be at UCLA School of Law for the day to discuss innovative energy technologies, international energy issues, the challenge of new energy technology diffusion, and the …

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The Climate Gamble

Paul Krugman has a review of a new book by William Nordhaus about climate policy.  By way of preface, I should say that Nordhaus is not particularly popular with environmentalists, who have generally considered him as too conservative in his policy recommendations.  Nordhaus does, however, more or less define the mainstream view — he’s very …

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Air Pollution in China Shuts Down City of 11 Million

The airpocalypse is back. What should Chinese leaders do about it?

On Sunday, the start of the heating season in northern China brought the “airpocalypse” back with a vengeance (although some might say it never left).  Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province and home to 11 million people, registered fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution levels beyond 500 on the Chinese Air Quality Index, which is considered hazardous …

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A Big Step for the Montreal Protocol

Parties to the Montreal Protocol will hold their 25th meeting next week in Bangkok.  In addition to all their normal business related to the continuing phasedown of ozone-depleting substances (ODS), parties at this meeting will consider a huge step, in the form of proposals to amend the Protocol to phase down Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).  Proponents of …

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Not all drones are weapons of war

Scientists promote low-cost aerial drones as conservation tools

Speaking of visualizing environmental problems, they are hidden for different reasons and therefore can be revealed by a variety of different mechanisms. Drones are one tool with a great deal of potential. Aerial drones have gotten a lot of attention as weapons of war or counterterrorism in the U.S. arsenal. Whatever you think about the …

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Environmental Review of Free Trade Agreements

Why aren’t we talking about climate change?

Last week, the period for public comment on an interim environmental review of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement closed, marking perhaps the last significant opportunity for public input on the environmental impacts of the proposed agreement.  The review was conducted to identify potential environmental effects of the TPP, as required by an Executive Order …

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A new treaty on global mercury: not much, but better than nothing

Next week in Japan, an international diplomatic meeting will sign and adopt a new environmental treaty, the Minamata Convention on Mercury Pollution, which was finalized in negotiations earlier this year. In its name – and in locating the conference in Minamata and the nearby city of Kumamoto, in Kyushu– the convention commemorates the victims of …

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Carbon Budgeting

The IPCC highlights the importance of the carbon budget, the total amount of CO2 emitted during this century.

  The first volume of the latest IPCC report is now public.  It’s a very lengthy document, and since it’s written by physical scientists rather than journalists, it’s not an easy read.  One important concept that seems to be a lot more important in this version of the IPCC is the carbon budget.  The key …

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Syria: The Wages of Climate Change

In considering the complex and painful question of whether to intervene in Syria, policymakers should take a close look at the memorandum published Monday on the Atlantic Monthly’s website by William R. Polk, a State Department Policy Planning Staff member during the Kennedy Administration.  I don’t agree with everything Polk says, but it is one …

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