Climate Change
Obama’s Progressive Tax and Energy Policy
Though the budget released yesterday by the Obama Administration was short on details, it was long on big pronouncements that fundamentally shift federal policy in important areas. On the climate change front, the budget for the first time reveals the administration’s thinking on how it would distribute money raised from allowances issued under a proposed …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Refugees
The Washington Post discusses eco-migration today: In Bangladesh, about 12 million to 17 million people have fled their homes in recent decades because of environmental disasters — and the low-lying country is likely to experience more intense flooding in the future. In several countries in Africa’s Sahel region, bordering the Sahara, about 10 million people …
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CONTINUE READINGNew York City prepares for climate change’s impacts
New York City’s climate change task force report was released today. This report, which discusses how climate change will affect the city’s infrastructure and residents, has attracted some media attention. Notably, the New York Times has an article on the report. This is important, given how little attention the impacts of climate change on cities’ infrastructure have received to …
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CONTINUE READINGStatistician contests George Will’s misguided climate op-ed
Nate Silver, the statistician who blogs at fivethirtyeight.com and made national news (and the Colbert Report) last year by being the most accurate and reliable predictor of the presidential election results, has turned his attention to climate change. In response to an op-ed yesterday by George Will in the Washington Post, Silver analyzes temperature trends and debunks the …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate change is outpacing most dire models
The Washington Post reports today on Chris Field’s presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in which he said: “We are basically looking now at a future climate that’s beyond anything we’ve considered seriously in climate model simulations.” Faster development of coal-fired electrical power in developing countries is …
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CONTINUE READINGThe future of coal-fired electric power
Tomorrow’s New York Times has an interesting article on the future of coal-fired electric power in the United States. Coal is responsible for fully 20% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, according to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. “Clean coal,” meaning coal plants that result in no net emissions of carbon dioxide, would be possible only …
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CONTINUE READINGNewsflash: The Environment and the California Budget Deal
Greenwire reports: “California lawmakers are expected to vote on a budget deal tomorrow that would waive environmental reviews for some highway projects and reverse diesel regulations for off-highway vehicles and construction equipment, sources close to the process said.” However, there is also good news: “Out of the budget package are proposals to stop reviews of …
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CONTINUE READINGBridging a Browner-Summers Gap?
Much has been made about a potential feud between White House Economic Advisor Larry Summers and White House Energy and Climate Advisor Carol Browner over how fast to cut carbon emissions. Summers has been vocal in expressing concerns over the economic effects of a tough climate policy. Browner, by contrast, is a strong advocate for …
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CONTINUE READINGA Victory for the California Team
AP reports that: The Export-Import Bank of the United States and the Overseas Private Investment Corp. agreed to provide a combined $500 million in financing for renewable energy projects and take into account greenhouse gas emissions associated with projects they support. The lawsuit was originally filed in San Francisco federal court in 2002 by Friends …
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CONTINUE READINGEarth, we’re just not that into you
As part of the continual fallout from last month’s Pew poll on the country’s “top priorities” for 2009, which ranked the issue of global warming dead last, I’ve found myself in several conversations recently about terminology. Assuming one believes that this ranking is too low, is part of the problem the poll’s use of the term …
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