climate science
A Major Challenge for Avoiding Climate Change Hides In Plain Sight
If we probably cannot keep global warming within agreed-upon limits by reducing emissions alone, how could we?
Next week, the international body responsible for assessing climate change will release a special report on the 1.5°C target, an ambitious, international goal to limit global warming that became part of the Paris Agreement in 2015. The report might mark a significant turning point for how policy makers, the scientific community, and others think about …
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CONTINUE READINGIt’s Official: Climate Change is Real and It’s Serious
The Administration allowed a key scientific report to come out. They’ll have trouble explaining it away.
The release of the Fourth National Climate Assessment got some attention from the press. The press mostly focused on the forthright endorsement of climate science by the NCA4 report — something of a surprise in the anti-science Trump Administration. That was indeed notable, but there are other features of the report that will make it …
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CONTINUE READINGPoliticizing Science
The Trump Administration is doubling down on its efforts to silence politically inconvenient science.
We knew about the Administration’s disdain for scientific evidence from the beginning but the situation has only continued to deteriorate. The campaign against objective science is now becoming embedded within the government. Far more than its predecessors, the Administration has embarked on a campaign to impose political control on science within the government and in …
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CONTINUE READINGNews Flash: 10th Cir. Rebukes Government Over Coal Leases
Today’s important ruling on standing, public lands, and climate change
In an important ruling this morning, the Tenth Circuit rejected the government’s assertion that it could ignore carbon emissions tied to renewing coal leases. In WildEarth Guardians v. BLM, the court also rejected the mining company’s attack on the standing of environmental groups to raise this claim.The mines in question are in the Powder River …
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CONTINUE READINGThe War on Science Continues
With the enthusiastic support of the House Science Committee, Trump is out to shackle scientific inquiry.
Trump’s anti-science views, on topics ranging from climate change to vaccines, got a lot of attention during the campaign. His budget puts these attitudes into operational form, and he has also left the White House science office empty, without replacing the presidential science advisor or other scientific staff. But he’s certainly not alone in his …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Environmental Budget
The proposal to Congress was released today. It’s very bad news.
I’ve been posting budget news as it has come out. Now that we have Trump’s proposal, I’ve replaced all the earlier information with the official numbers in this version. The bottom line: the budget would be a disaster for the environment, for science, and for the country. The general philosophy behind the budget was …
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CONTINUE READINGEnv. Budget Update
The budget is an unfolding story. It’s not looking any better right now.
Because budget news comes in stages, I’m planning to periodically update this post. Here’s what we know as of now. Material since the last update is in green. Environmental Science. I have posted previously about the threat to scientific research posed by the Trump Administration. The Administration’s attack on environmental science – climate science in particular – …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Budget Cuts: Even Worse Than You Thought
As you dive into the details, things keep looking worse.
Trump is proposing huge cuts to EPA and other agencies. That’s bad enough. We’re beginning to learn more details, and the message is grim. While these cuts may not emerge from Congress at the end of the day, they do express the Administration’s goals. In particular, they demonstrate that the Administration is deeply hostile to environmental science and …
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CONTINUE READINGScience Under Siege
There are troubling indications of a campaign to hide scientific information from the public.
On January 25, Reuters reported that EPA had been ordered to pull down its climate change page. That didn’t end up happening, but all use of social media was banned and some documents were axed, such as an FAQ about the scientific consensus. Meanwhile, data on international carbon emissions has vanished from the State Department …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Best Investment in the Fight Against Climate Change
Trump is on a search-and-destroy mission against climate science & energy research. We need to fill the gap.
How can California best move the ball on the climate issue? Ann Carlson and I have just published an op. ed. in the Sacramento Bee making the case for a state climate-research fund and explaining how it could be implemented. Here’s why investing in new knowledge is such an important move for California. California can …
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