Climate Change

Prop 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 …

CONTINUE READING

Does Proposition 26 Undermine California’s Climate Change Law?

No.  Not at all.  Legally, we are still all systems go for AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. First, take a look at the careful analysis that Cara, Sean, and Rhead produced a couple of weeks ago.  It notes one extremely important fact about Proposition 26: its retroactive provisions only go back to January 2010, and AB 32 was …

CONTINUE READING

Election 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 …

CONTINUE READING

Funny, It Doesn’t Look Bluish

The initial results in California last night make it seem like a sane drop of blue in the country.  Jerry Brown won for Governor; Barbara Boxer was re-elected; and Proposition 23, which would have reversed the state’s landmark climate change law, was resoundingly defeated.  Voters also approved Proposition 25, which allows the state budget to be …

CONTINUE READING

Tipping Points and Feedback Effects

From the title, this could be a posting about the election results.  It isn’t — although I do wonder whether the relatively rapid changes we’ve seen in the House over the past decade are a sign of increased feedback effects.  My topic, however, is climate science. The curve at the left shows how feedback effects …

CONTINUE READING

Top Ten Reasons To Vote Against Proposition 23

10.  To send the nasty Koch brothers a message to stay out of California politics. 9.  To send the nasty Texas-based Valero oil company a message to stay out of California politics. 8.  To send the nasty Texas-based Tessoro oil company a message to stay out of California politics. 7.  To send Meg Whitman a …

CONTINUE READING

Republicans vow to attack federal climate change efforts

The New York Times reports that senior Republicans are saying they will aggressively attack our administration’s environmental and climate change initiatives if their party wins a majority in the House of Representatives.  EPA will be on the defensive, using its resources to defend against these attacks rather than move forward with regulatory initiatives that both …

CONTINUE READING

Did EPA Just Get Snookered on Trucking Emissions Rules?

Like Holly, I suppose it’s a good thing that EPA has — finally — proposed new rules for fuel efficient and greenhouse gas emissions from medium and large trucks.  But I remain highly skeptical that even these rules — as weak and tardy as they are — will ever see the light of day.  Once again, …

CONTINUE READING

Thumbs up and thumbs down

Brief takes on good and bad news from around the web. First the good news: EPA and NHTSA have proposed joint fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction standards for medium and large trucks, the ones that move freight around the country. “The agencies estimate that the combined proposed standards have the potential to reduce GHG …

CONTINUE READING

Dry as Dust

A new literature survey and synthesis has some grim news about drought: Dry periods lasting for years to decades have occurred many times during the last millennium over, for example, North America, West Africa, and East Asia. . . . Climate models project increased aridity in the 21st century over most of Africa, southern Europe …

CONTINUE READING

TRENDING