Climate Change

Googling Climate Change

I was curious about what information people would find if they were curious about climate change and took the easiest route by googling the phrase “climage change.”  It’s a mixed story.  The first listing on the page (presumably sponsored) is a Chevron site.  Right below that are “related searches” for climate change emails climate change …

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Business Gets Ready for Emission Cuts

Today’s NY Times reports: Much of corporate America has already been thinking about how to comply. Many businesses concluded years ago that such limits were inevitable, and they have been calling on Congress to define the exact rules they will need to follow. Already, many companies are recording their emissions and analyzing the results. Some …

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Thankful for U.S., China News on Climate?

After yesterday’s news that Obama will attend the international climate talks in Copenhagen and commit to near term targets (discussed by Cara here and Dan here) we’re greeted today with the news that China’s prime minister Wen Jiabao will attend and commit to reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of China’s economy.  China’s commitment …

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More on today’s White House announcement re Copenhagen

Dan writes immediately below about Obama’s announcement that he’ll attend the talks in Copenhagen in two weeks, and with a U.S. emissions reduction target in the range of the 17% below 2005 levels found in the House bill.  At the press conference on this announcement, a little more was said about the kind of agreement the White House is …

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Obama to Go to Copenhagen

Greenwire reports; President Obama will attend U.N. global warming negotiations in Copenhagen on Dec. 9, according to a White House aide. The White House also confirmed today that Obama will propose that the United States plans to curb its emissions by 2020 in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels — which is the …

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The Climate “Partnership” with India

At least that’s what the White House is calling it.  (Okay, okay: technically, the White House calls it the “Green Partnership to Address Energy Security, Climate Change, and Food Security.”).  Does it mean anything?  Maybe. Essentially, it provides for some technical assistance to improve governance capacity and scientific knowledge, and some new initiatives to foster …

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California Air Resources Board releases draft cap-and-trade plan

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) today released the preliminary draft cap-and-trade regulation. CARB staff would like to have comments by January 11th of next year. A new proposal based on the comments will then be issued in Spring 2010. Some quick key points: 1) The proposal limits a covered entity’s use of offsets to …

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War Tax=Carbon Tax

Congressman David Obey yesterday called for a war tax to pay for troops in Afghanistan. While the idea of a war tax makes all the sense in the world (if health care can’t add to the deficit, why should our wars?), Obey’s proposed tax on upper-income earners is aimed at the wrong source. Instead of …

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A Lot of Hot Air

One of the arguments that pro-“cap and traders” like to make against a carbon tax is that the outcome of a tax is too uncertain.  Like Goldilocks, you may end up with a tax that is too weak or too strong.  If it’s too weak, the desired environmental emissions targets may not be met; too …

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