Climate Change

Bad climate news round-up

Sometimes it’s hard to be an optimist. The recent climate news all seems ominous: Sciencereports (subscription required) on the latest paper in press from a satellite-based study of the mass of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Isabella Velicogna of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory finds that both ice sheets shrank at accelerating rates over the …

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More on the Bush-era greenhouse gas endangerment recommendation

The release of documents discussed in Holly’s post ends the story of one of the more ridiculous of the last Administration’s unceasing efforts to delay climate change regulation.  Scientists and policymakers at EPA had concluded that greenhouse gases were a danger to the public and should be regulated under the Clean Air Act.  They sent an email, …

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EPA releases Bush-era endangerment finding

UPDATE: Cara has more here, including a link to the draft that does not require a subscription. In Dec. 2007, EPA was ready to issue a proposed finding under the Clean Air Act that greenhouse gas pollution endangers public welfare. E&E News has now obtained a copy of the draft proposal (subscription required) through a …

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Looking Past Copenhagen

A year or two ago, people expected Copenhagen to produce the equivalent of the Kyoto Protocol – a comprehensive climate roadmap for the next decade or more.  It seems unlikely that the Copenhagen meeting will live up to those expectations, although there’s always the chance of a last-minute surprise. What does seem clear, however, is …

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Civil disobedience and climate change

On Friday, the New York Times carried a story about Tim DeChristopher, the economics student in Utah who bid on federal oil and gas leases at an auction last December as a form of protest against global warming. DeChristopher was the winning bidder on 14 parcels, but admits that he never had either the intent …

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A Rare Example of Bipatisanship

In yesterday’s New York Times, John Kerry and Lindsay Graham wrote a joint op-ed about climate change.  They agree that climate change is real, that the U.S. must cut its dependence on foreign oil, that we should not allow China or other countries to dominate the market for renewable energy technologies.  They also agree that …

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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Climate Hypocrite

Schwarzenegger loves to talk about how concerned he is about climate change.  And talk he does — mostly at meaningless press events like the Governors Climate Summit.  But when it comes to, you know, actually doing his job, he’s decided that he’d rather side with the wingnuts in his party. A couple of hours ago, …

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Climate Change #7: “But the Earth Abides Forever”

This is the seventh in a series of brief homilies about the lessons of climate change. The text for today’s sermon is from Ecclesiastes: “One generation passes away, and another generation cometh; But the earth abides forever.” The application to climate change is pretty obvious: greenhouse gases can persist in the atmosphere for centuries, and …

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Climate Change and the Peace Prize (Again)

From the official citation to President Obama by the Norwegian committee awarding the Prize: Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened. Only very rarely has a person to the same extent …

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The Low-Carbon Meat Diet

If you’re like me, you like meat.  Especially red meat, like a pepper-crusted steak or a juicy burger drizzled with bleu cheese.  But if you’re also like me, you’re concerned about climate change and the impact that our lifestyle has on the planet.  While hyrbids and CFL light bulbs get a lot of attention, Ezra …

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