Climate Change

The Cost of Climate Change

According to Climate Wire, the Obama Administration is trying to come up with a reliable economic estimate of the cost of unchecked climate change.   This sounds like a great idea but is actually full of pitfalls. Many of the individual elements of the economic impact analysis are the subjects of serious debate.  For instance, economists …

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The Ghostly New Halloween Super-Villain

Warning: this thing will have more sequels than Friday the 13th!  In fact, it will still be playing in your neighborhood theater for decades to come. 

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Should Obama Go To Copenhagen?

President Obama has, of course, already been to Copenhagen once this year — in his quest to bring the Olympics to Chicago —  and brought nothing home to show for it.  The stakes for the December United Nations Climate Change Conference are obviously much higher:  the negotiation of an international agreement to govern greenhouse gas emissions …

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Why You Should Worry About Climate Change Even If You Don’t Think It Is Going To Happen

Even if you think that carbon emissions won’t cause uncertainty, you should think seriously about hedging that bet.

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Optimism on a Climate Bill?

At least, optimism  seems to be the White House message, according to a TPM report: On Friday the president urged speed in the broader shift in U.S. energy priorities and said he believed lawmakers — many of whom are skeptical of the energy bill — are following. “It is a transformation that will be made …

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UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy launches new website, publishes climate policy issue

Forgive me for a little boasting about our great student-run environmental law journal, which has just launched a new website with downloadable content and published a terrific, policy-oriented issue (together with the Emmett Center) with lessons from state leaders across the country on tackling climate change.    The issue focuses on how states are addressing the climate …

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Oil Shale, Greenhouse Gas, and Federal Lands

Back in 2005, a Rand report assessed the merits of pursuing oil shale (a rock formation particularly prevalent in the U.S.) as an option for extracting liquid transportation fuel. The authors said: “Heating oil shale for retorting, whether above ground or in situ, requires significant energy inputs. Over at least the next few decades, this …

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More on the Bush-era greenhouse gas endangerment recommendation

The release of documents discussed in Holly’s post ends the story of one of the more ridiculous of the last Administration’s unceasing efforts to delay climate change regulation.  Scientists and policymakers at EPA had concluded that greenhouse gases were a danger to the public and should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.  They sent an email, …

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Climate Change #7: “But the Earth Abides Forever”

This is the seventh in a series of brief homilies about the lessons of climate change. The text for today’s sermon is from Ecclesiastes: “One generation passes away, and another generation cometh; But the earth abides forever.” The application to climate change is pretty obvious: greenhouse gases can persist in the atmosphere for centuries, and …

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The Low-Carbon Meat Diet

If you’re like me, you like meat.  Especially red meat, like a pepper-crusted steak or a juicy burger drizzled with bleu cheese.  But if you’re also like me, you’re concerned about climate change and the impact that our lifestyle has on the planet.  While hyrbids and CFL light bulbs get a lot of attention, Ezra …

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