Climate Change
Is EVERYTHING Related to Climate Change?
I don’t want to seem obsessed with a single issue, so I keep trying to come up with topics that have absolutely no relationship with climate change. But I can’t seem to find any. The fact is that energy is such an integral part of our economy that almost all activities connect one way or …
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CONTINUE READINGFutureGen Back on Track
The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that it will restart FutureGen, a large-scale demonstration project to determine the feasibility of capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide generated from coal-fired power plants. As Dan described in an earlier post, the Bush Administration had cancelled FutureGen based on cost-overruns, overruns that turned out to be based in …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia environmental justice advocates sue Air Resources Board over climate scoping plan
UPDATES: California Air Resources Board Chair (and former UCLA colleague) Mary Nichols comments below. The Complaint in this action is available here (caption page separately available here). A coalition of California environmental justice advocates has filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the California Air Resources Board‘s scoping plan for AB 32, the landmark climate …
CONTINUE READINGDeclaring War Against Climate Change
The NY Times describes the current negotiations in Beijing as resembling an arms control contest, with demands for verifiable reductions (but in emissions rather than missiles). The military comparison may be apt. Dealing with climate change is going to be like fighting a major war in a number of respects: *It will involve mobilizing for …
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CONTINUE READINGDrowning the East Coast
According to WaPo, Sea levels could rise faster along the U.S. East Coast than in any other densely populated part of the world, new research shows, as changes in ice caps and ocean currents push water toward a shoreline inlaid with cities, resort boardwalks and gem-rare habitats. Three studies this year, including one out last …
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CONTINUE READINGThe China Syndrome
After her trip to China, Speaker Pelosi was upbeat about the Chinese attitude toward climate change, YahooGreen reports: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday expressed high hopes of cooperation between the United State and China, the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, ahead of
CONTINUE READINGIdle Chatter
WBUR’s Here and Now radio show recently covered the story of George Pakenham, the self-named “Verdant Vigilante.” Pakenham roams the streets of New York City engaging in citizen enforcement of the city’s anti-idling law. The law, which has been on the books in various forms since 1971, prohibits idling for greater than 3 minutes (1 …
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CONTINUE READINGTar Sands, Obama, California, and the Economy in Calgary
Spending just a few days in Calgary, Alberta, one thing becomes perfectly clear: oil is Calgary, and Calgary is all about oil. And increasingly, the story of oil all across Alberta has become the story of tar sands. Many around the world have viewed with horror, or at least dismay, Canada’s increased reliance on producing …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate bill is out of committee (thanks in part to speed reader?)
Yesterday evening, by a 33-25 vote, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill (full text here – all 946 pages of it). This quick analysis by Kate Sheppard at Grist.org is useful. This New York Times article discusses the opposition to the bill from the agricultural sector, and the likely difficulties that …
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CONTINUE READINGA Good Week for Environmental Federalism
This has been a very good week for proponents of environmental federalism. On Tuesday, President Obama convened a Rose Garden ceremony to announce first-ever federal regulatory mandates specifically designed to address global warming. The federal government’s new CAFE standards for new cars and light trucks, beginning with the 2012 model year, will simultaneously reduce greenhouse …
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