Climate Change
Climate Change and Providential Irony
Jed suggests that “the belief that climate change can’t be real because God made the earth for us to use is just one instance of a deep and old American practice of enlisting nature to uphold our cultural and political identities – to prove that the world is made for people like us.” That may be …
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CONTINUE READINGWhose Nature? God, the GOP, and Everyone Else
Some Americans say they don’t believe in climate change because they believe in God – or, more exactly, because of what they believe about God. A few weeks ago, the New York Times quoted some Indiana Tea Party activists who explained that, because the world was created for human use and benefit, using its mineral …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Cap-and-Trade Math
In late October, California Air Resources Board (CARB) released their draft regulations for cap-and-trade under AB 32. I looked at CARB’s proposed allocations: the cap, the offset percentage, the reserve percentage and the projected emissions level. Running the numbers allows a few general observations: If covered emitters take full advantage of the 8% allowed offsets, …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA Sustainable Technology and Policy Program (STPP): New interdisciplinary program of UCLA Schools of Law and Public Health
The UCLA Sustainable Technology and Policy Program (STPP) has just launched its new website. STPP is an interdisciplinary program based in the UCLA School of Law and the School of Public Health, with partners and affiliated faculty across the UCLA campus. The program’s goal is to promote public health and environmental protection by developing and promoting …
CONTINUE READINGMelting the Ice (But Not in a Fun, Life-of-the Party Way)
The Ny Times has a lengthy article about glacial melting and sea level rise, with bad news: But researchers have recently been startled to see big changes unfold in both Greenland and Antarctica. As a result of recent calculations that take the changes into account, many scientists now say that sea level is likely to …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy the Feds Should Pay the Administrative Costs of Implementing AB 32
There’s been a lot of discussion of whether Prop 26 interferes with the use of fees to pay the administrative expenses for AB 32. I would like to suggest an alternative solution: the Feds should pick up the tab. This may seem a little far-fetched, given the current political situation, but it makes real sense …
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CONTINUE READINGMore Thoughts About Conservative Climate Perspectives
Climate issues are essentially factual, not ideological. We naturally all come to those issues with our own perspectives. That’s fine, so long as our ideological lenses merely color the facts rather than blocking them from view entirely.
CONTINUE READINGThat Warm Fuzzy Cap-And-Trade Feeling
Cara asks if cap-and-trade skeptics like me still get excited at California’s Mini-Me version. The short answer (for me, at least) is yes. I’m all in favor of California rolling out its own version, and my hope has always been that the California Air Resources Board could develop a successful program that EPA could eventually …
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CONTINUE READINGI, Robot
The claims of climate deniers are so repetitive that someone has figured out how to automate the twitter wars: Getting into a climate change debate on Twitter could be even more exhausting than it sounds now that a software developer named Nigel Leck has automated the process. Tired of arguing with climate change deniers in …
CONTINUE READINGWhy Are Conservatives So Hostile to Climate Policy?
Dan wants to know why conservatives would oppose market-based solutions to climate change that avoid greater government intervention down the road. I asked last week why traditional conservatives, who make much of preserving traditions through different generations and respecting institutions through time, would also oppose such policies. The answer to both questions lie in their …
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