A while back I filled out the little form for NRDC's letter-writing campaign to save the Arctic Refuge. It sends a message to your Congressman, urging them oppose oil and gas development in the region. It's probably the tenth one of those things I've submitted regarding the refuge. (It's so easy; just type in your email and click "send." No thought involved.) I often question the usefulness of online campaigns and the implications of such mindless "citizen participation," but that's probably a subject for another post. Point here is, today I received a response from my representative, one Mr. Don …

BP making big boost to clean-energy spending Oil giant BP plans to invest up to $8 billion of its oil-and-gas profits into clean energy technologies and greenhouse-gas abatement projects over the next 10 years. An $8 billion investment would represent an eightfold increase over the company's clean-energy outlay in the past decade, says CEO John Browne. BP expects an eventual 15 percent return on the funding, and anticipates hiring several hundred staffers for a new business unit, which will consolidate the company's projects in solar, wind, hydrogen, carbon sequestration, and ultra-efficient gas-fired power generation. This will be one of the …

U.S. gums up works at Montreal climate talks Representatives of the world's governments are currently gathered in Montreal for a historic summit on the most pressing problem facing civilization: global warming. And the U.S.? "The United States is opposed to any such discussions," says Harlan Watson, who bears the somewhat misleading title of "chief U.S. climate negotiator." Watson is quite open about the fact that he's in Montreal to prevent negotiation. Instead, he argues that "there's more than one way to approach climate change," though the only alternative he's mentioned is ... can't you just guess? ... more research and …

Northeast greenhouse-gas pact delayed The long-negotiated and much-anticipated -- by us climate geeks anyway -- cap-and-trade climate pact among nine Northeast states, originally set to be announced this week, has been delayed. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has extended negotiations, saying that with recent spikes in energy prices, the plan would raise the cost of electricity too much for end users. Romney wants price caps set on what power-plant operators would have to pay to exceed their pollution allowances under the agreement. New York and New Jersey argue that customers would be fine without price caps, and that such controls …

Tropical nations want payment for protecting carbon-sinking rainforests "Cough up the dough, Mr. West, or the forest gets it!" OK, we're being a little dramatic. But a group of 10 developing nations has made it clear this week at the U.N. climate summit in Montreal that it wants a little ... inducement ... to preserve its rainforests. The "Rainforest Coalition," led by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, argues that the world free-rides on the carbon-sink effect of its forests, while its easiest options for economic growth involve razing them for timber and cropland. The coalition proposes being included in …

Caterwauling over the Iraq War last week brought Congress to a rancorous new low, drowning out calls from both sides of the aisle for a clean and sane energy future. A handful of senators and reps unveiled proposals pressing for the Bush administration and automakers to shrink America's outsized energy demands and tackle the climate crisis. They got little to no attention at the time, but their innovative thinking could help set U.S. energy policy on a new, more progressive course. Last Thursday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) introduced a "Health Care for Hybrids" bill outlining …

Blair softens on mandatory emissions targets and warms to nuclear power British Prime Minister Tony Blair's shifting approach to climate change has environmentalists in a stormy mood. Earlier this fall, he hinted publicly that he was cooling his support for extending the Kyoto Protocol's mandatory greenhouse-gas reduction targets beyond the treaty's conclusion in 2012. Now his environment secretary, Margaret Beckett, says she too is willing to accept voluntary targets post-Kyoto. Her statement comes just ahead of next week's climate-change summit in Montreal, and enviros worry it could undermine negotiations there. "Voluntary targets are not worth the paper they are written …

It may come as a bit of a surprise: Despite rising gas prices over the past few years, total consumption of highway fuels in the U.S. has actually increased rather than fallen. Some have seized on this phenomenon -- prices and consumption rising in tandem -- to suggest that changes in gas prices have no discernible effect on how much gas we actually use. The idea that gas prices have no effect on consumption doesn't square with economic theory, to put it mildly. And this Excel spreadsheet (courtesy of Charles Komanoff and the ever-informative Todd Litman) sheds some light on …

Climate-change studies project fun future of droughts, floods, illness The latest issue of the journal Nature has three new studies on the likely impacts of climate disruption. Turns out it's gonna be a cakewalk! Ah, sadly, we kid. Millions who depend on mountain snow and glaciers for their water supplies -- especially in Asia and South America -- are expected to face shortages as rising temperatures turn snowfall into rain and melt snowpack and glaciers faster than normal, according to one study. Another study forecasts dramatic changes in worldwide streamflow patterns, with many regions unprepared to handle the abnormally timed …

Damn, this looks like a good movie. From IMDB: From writer/director Stephen Gaghan, winner of the Best Screenplay Academy Award for Traffic, comes Syriana, a political thriller that unfolds against the intrigue of the global oil industry. From the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf, the film's multiple storylines weave together to illuminate the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth and power. As a career CIA operative (George Clooney) begins to uncover the disturbing truth about the work he has devoted his life to, an up-and-coming …