Climate Change
Obama, the GOP, and the Environment
The NY Times has a Christmas Day editorial about the need for the President to take a strong stance in defense of EPA: Republicans in the next Congress are obviously set on limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate a wide range of air pollutants — even if it …
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CONTINUE READINGState Dep’t: Legally binding emissions limits not happening “anytime soon”
I wasn’t on the beach in Cancun at the latest international climate summit, but like lots of folks I followed its (pseudo) progress. It wrapped up on Saturday with a package of incremental agreements on important issues (LA Times has a good analysis here), but once again without getting far on the 10,000 gigaton question: Will …
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CONTINUE READINGGoogle Earth Engine and Forest Offsets in California Cap-and-Trade
Last week, Google Labs released Google Earth Engine, an online platform for viewing and analyzing satellite imagery and data. The platform’s strengths are ease of use for viewing images, collaboration tools, and use of Google’s computing infrastructure to analyze the satellite data. Google intends to use the platform to, among other things, help developing countries …
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CONTINUE READINGWhose Nature? God, the GOP, and Everyone Else
Some Americans say they don’t believe in climate change because they believe in God – or, more exactly, because of what they believe about God. A few weeks ago, the New York Times quoted some Indiana Tea Party activists who explained that, because the world was created for human use and benefit, using its mineral …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Four Corners Coal Plant and Regional Climate Policy
The results of the recent elections in California and elsewhere suggest that the Golden State may be flying solo for many years when it comes to regulating greenhouse gas emissions. While Congress and elected officials in most states have grown even more partisan and climate-theory skeptical, Californians have soundly rejected efforts to cut back on …
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CONTINUE READINGMelting the Ice (But Not in a Fun, Life-of-the Party Way)
The Ny Times has a lengthy article about glacial melting and sea level rise, with bad news: But researchers have recently been startled to see big changes unfold in both Greenland and Antarctica. As a result of recent calculations that take the changes into account, many scientists now say that sea level is likely to …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Truly Conservative View of Climate Policy
A nice column in the Washington Post about why conservatives should change their views about climate policy: When faced with uncertainty and the possibility of costly outcomes, smart businessmen buy insurance, reduce their downside exposure and protect their assets… And when military planners assess an enemy, they get ready for a worst-case encounter. When it …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia full-steam-ahead on cap and trade
Whether or not Californians focused on climate change in voting on Proposition 23 (as Ann and Sean discuss), their rejection of 23 means full steam ahead on climate change regulation. Notably, while the rest of the country leaps back from cap and trade (here’s Obama throwing it under the bus in his post-election comments), California …
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CONTINUE READINGProp 23 and What It Says (Or Doesn’t) About Californians’ View of Climate Change
What conclusion should we draw from the drubbing that California gave to Prop. 23, the ballot measure that would have overturned our landmark Global Warming Solutions Act? Andrew Leonard at Salon applauds our voters for affirming “their commitment to tackling the challenge of climate change and our dependence on fossil fuels.” But Sean, in his …
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CONTINUE READINGElection review: what message did voters send about the environment, and how will politicians react?
It’s natural, in reflecting on the recent election, to ask whether and to what extent the results reflect public values about protection of the environment. (Well, at least for me, since I spend my time thinking about these things.) My answer: not much. But the election’s impacts on environmental issues will still be significant. While …
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