Climate Change
Deploying Large-Scale Solar on Marginal Agricultural Land: A New Berkeley / UCLA White Paper
With California committed to achieving 33 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, some solar and wind developers are rushing to propose large-scale installations on California farmland. These sites can be attractive because they are close to existing transmission lines and substations and have good sun exposure. However, proposed projects on farmland tend …
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Adopts Landmark Cap-and-Trade Program
Defying the trend in the rest of the country to ignore the perils of climate change, the California Air Resources Board voted today to establish the country’s first economy-wide cap-and-trade program covering greenhouse gas emissions. The vote comes five years after the state passed sweeping legislation — AB 32 — to roll California’s carbon emissions …
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CONTINUE READINGCheap Solar Provides Some Reason for Climate Optimism
Solar energy is getting really cheap. And that fact could alter the landscape of energy production and the course of climate change in ways we can only begin to imagine today. One of the conundrums of climate change is trying to predict the future. This difficulty in prediction may be especially true with respect to …
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CONTINUE READINGHit-by-Pitches and Climate Denialism
Ann’s post regarding the potential effects of climate change on the number of hit batters raises some critical issues on the national pastime. And of course, I’d be delighted to sign up for the field study. But climate deniers already have a ready answer. After all, they will ask: how do we know that the …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Change and Major League Baseball
In what may be the most serious repercussion yet from predicted temperature rises, NPR is reporting this morning on Professor Richard Larrick‘s research showing that as temperatures increase, so does the number of batters who get hit by pitches. Moreover, when a batter gets hit by a pitch, retaliation by the opposing team increases …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Change: A Plausibility Check
No doubt there are many reasons for the existence of climate skepticism, but at least one is probably based on a sense of scale. The amount of CO2 emissions is large in absolute term — now about 10 gigatons per year roughly speaking — but the atmosphere is much, much bigger. Of course, CO2 has …
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CONTINUE READINGNew Methods for Calculating Carbon Footprints
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol today released two important methods for figuring out the carbon footprint of a product throughout its life and throughout the supply chain necessary to create the product. These methods should – if implemented — help answer questions like how much carbon is emitted over the whole life cycle of a car, …
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CONTINUE READINGIs There Really No More Room For Forests?
If you have even a passing interest in things environmental, and you keep yourself relatively well-informed, then no doubt you saw Justin Gillis’ superb page one NYT story on Saturday, about the decline (and at times possible increase) of forests; how forests provide critical carbon sinks to mitigate climate change; and how that climate change …
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CONTINUE READINGChris Christie and the Environment
There’s a lot of buzz about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as a possible GOP presidential candidate. As with the other candidates in the race, it seemed like a good idea to check into his positions on environmental issues. The first thing that becomes clear is that he’s enthusiastic about renewable energy and energy efficiency. …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Governor Brown Signs CEQA Reform Bills
Today California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law legislation amending the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to facilitate construction of both a major new sports stadium in downtown Los Angeles and large “environmental leadership development projects” involving financial commitments of at least $10 million and that incorporate substantial urban infill or renewable energy components. This …
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