Climate Change
A Carbon Map of America
A post on DailyKos makes the very important point that carbon emissions vary vastly within the United States, linking to a terrific Purdue University mapping project on carbon emissions. As the post indicates, reliance on coal is a key factor. But there are other forces at work as well. In considering the role of the …
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CONTINUE READINGEducational Equality as an Environmental Issue
This is the first in an occasional series about surprising dimensions of environmental problems. Today’s thesis is that promoting educational equality in developing countries would be a good thing for the environment. In other words, environmentalists should favor directing more educational funds to girls rather than following the norm in many countries, which is to …
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CONTINUE READINGRelist Yellowstone’s grizzlies?
Grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region were removed from the ESA list in 2007 on the grounds that they had recovered to the point that they no longer needed protection. Now Doug Peacock argues in Environment 360 that Yellowstone’s bears should be returned to the ESA’s protected list. His piece highlights three key challenges for …
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CONTINUE READINGNew court ruling requires City, Wal-Mart to re-analyze GHG impacts of development and consider a more climate-friendly alternative
Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), local governments and state agencies in California must analyze the environmental impacts of any permit to approve a new development project, and must identify and promise to implement mitigation to the extent feasible, before approving the project. Over the last two years, it has become clear that climate …
CONTINUE READINGWho will pay for the costs of foreign carbon dioxide in our consumer goods?
I discussed in this post the problem of GHG emissions from imported consumer products. We import and buy more and more goods from China and other countries that rely heavily on greenhouse gas-intensive coal-fired power. As a result, our consumer habits are responsible for a large and growing proportion of GHG emissions in other countries. These …
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CONTINUE READINGGood News for Air, Climate, Traffic?
Two recent interesting and potentially related articles in the LA Times suggest an encouraging trend. California drivers are consuming less gasoline, a trend that began in 2006. And U.S. car buyers may begin to look more like European consumers, buying smaller, more fuel efficient cars and keeping those cars longer. As the Times reports in …
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CONTINUE READINGTracking state climate policy
The New America Foundation has released a new tool for tracking state climate planning and policy efforts. The Foundation’s State Climate Policy Tracker compiles publicly available information about the measures states are implementing, the degree of progress, and their potential GHG emission reductions. According to the Foundation: Since 2006, 33 U.S. states have created climate …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate change threatens human health
A new report in The Lancet (registration required to access the full document), a leading international medical journal, provides more backing for EPA’s proposed finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health as well as public welfare. From the multi-authored report’s executive summary: Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate bill has votes to get through key House panel, says Waxman
Breaking news: Greenwire (via the New York Times) and Grist.com are reporting that Rep. Henry Waxman said tonight he “believe[s] we’ll have the votes for passage” to move his climate bill through the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Rep. Waxman “expects” to have sufficient votes but takes a tone of skepticism.) Waxman …
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CONTINUE READING“Smoking gun” OMB memo on EPA climate change rulemaking is not what it seems
As Dan has mentioned, there has been a bit of a dust-up over a document in EPA’s rulemaking docket relating to EPA’s recent finding that greenhouse gases pose an endangerment to public health and welfare. As Dan notes, the memo, apparently originating at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is harshly critical …
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