Politics
Will Estrogen Save the Planet?
At least some researchers think so. According to a new study in Social Science Research, “controlling for other factors, in nations where women’s status is higher, CO2 emissions are lower.” Study coauthors Christina Ergas and Richard York, sociologists at the University of Oregon, write: even when controlling for a variety of measures of “modernization,” world-system …
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CONTINUE READINGSpeaking Truth to GOPers
A study coming out of the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication has some interesting insights into methods of communication that might work with Republicans: Efficacy—the belief that individuals can make a difference in climate change—positively predicted both belief and attitudes. . . . It is thus highly likely—though perhaps at first counterintuitive—that …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Law’s Lessons for the Health Care Mandate
The drafters of the health care reform law might have learned something from environmental policy makers when it comes to mandates and public opinion. When the five conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices expressed a visceral reaction against the government compelling citizens to buy health insurance last week, their distaste was not unlike the visceral reaction many …
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CONTINUE READINGEyes Closed, Minds Shut Tight
According to a recent article in the American Sociological Review, rejection of science is on the rise: Just over 34 percent of conservatives had confidence in science as an institution in 2010, representing a long-term decline from 48 percent in 1974, according to a paper being published today in American Sociological Review. That represents a …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA Unveils Carbon Standard for New Power Plants
This morning, U.S. EPA released its anticipated rule limiting carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants. The proposed Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act purports to set national limits on the amount of carbon pollution new power plants can emit. Today we’re taking a common-sense step …
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CONTINUE READINGHappy (Belated) World Water Day! There’s Good News and Bad News….
Well, that’s embarrassing. Yesterday was the United Nations’ annual World Water Day, which apparently arrives every March 22nd. I only stumbled across it by accident, since it was referenced by another website that I was reading. But the UN has put a lot of PR effort at least into the project, and developed a very …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Commerce Department Undercuts Clean Energy
The Commerce Department’s decision to levy tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports has been in the news for a couple of days, but should receive more attention for envir0nmental policy wonks than it has so far. The Obama Administration has basically decided to impair clean energy production with its decision, even if the tariffs are …
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CONTINUE READINGAttack of the Dim Bulbs (A Dismayingly On-Going Series)
And the government would have banned Thomas Edison’s light bulb. Oh yeah, Obama’s regulators actually did just that. That was Governor Romney on March 19. I hope he was more careful with the facts when he worked for Bain. If not, he would have cost lost a lot of money, not to mention the liability …
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CONTINUE READINGOne reason for anti-EPA riders
There’s been a lot of (appropriate) outrage over the efforts in the past year and a half by House Republicans to gut environmental protections through the use of appropriations riders. Those efforts might well continue in the next appropriations cycle, especially since bashing the EPA is apparently a popular election-year activity for Republicans. One of …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate “skepticism,” ideology, and sincerity
There’s an interesting discussion about a whole lot of things — for example, the sincerity of climate scientists and think tanks, the behavior of scientists, the relative funding of “skeptics” and climate scientists and others who believe climate change is happening and is caused by human activity — between my colleague Ann Carlson and Professor …
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