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Setting some facts straight about the future of carbon regulation in the U.S.

Gar Lipow offers up his latest critique of carbon offsets, which this time is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the underlying science of greenhouse gases. The story, for those following along at home, can be summarized thusly:

• Gar feels that carbon offsets are, among other things, the "enemy of the human race."
• I feel that offsets are an interesting policy option with kinks to be worked out. The kinks are not nearly so fundamental or intractable as some would have you believe.

The following discussion gets a bit dense, but it's also highly instructive, so I recommend soldiering through if this is a topic you're interested in.

Reading it will make you smarter

It’s 2009. Democratic majorities have expanded in the House and become filibuster-proof in the Senate. Astride the executive branch stands the only American ever to win a Nobel Peace Price prior to being elected president: Al Gore. The star of 2006’s Academy Award-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" is known the world over as a prophet […]

Bush underfunds efficiency

While Bush talks a good game on energy security, he doesn't back the rhetoric up with action. That is especially true when it comes to his own budget, as made clear in a press release from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy:

Diapers and a BB gun

Sorry, this has nothing to do with the environment, but it is the greatest story ever. Update [2007-2-6 15:19:24 by David Roberts]: Heard from across the office: “I heard she was carrying a loaded diaper!”

It’s All Ova

U.N. lifts year-old ban on Caspian Sea beluga caviar exports The world’s got a fever, and the only prescription is more caviar. In a two-part move, the U.N. has lifted a year-old ban on the delicacy, allowing Caspian Sea countries to profit despite concern about declining sturgeon populations. Yesterday, the U.N. Convention on International Trade […]

You Go, Hugo

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez mouths off about conservation The campaign to fight climate change and reduce global oil use seems to have an unlikely new champion: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. In a country where car salesfolk do a healthy business and gasoline is subsidized to 12 cents a gallon — that’s about $3 to fill […]

It just ain’t sexy

Matthew C. Nisbet tells the depressing story of how the IPCC report was released on Friday to thunderous … silence, failing to break through "the juggernaut narratives of Iraq, the 2008 election, and the weekend’s SuperBowl." One thing Nisbet doesn’t stress enough is that there were numerous extremely good pieces in print media. The report […]

Alpha Females

You know climate concern has gone mainstream when sororities get on board Yeah, yeah, the vast majority of the world’s climate scientists believe immediate action is required to stem climate change — but Bill McKibben is more excited about the action suggested by a sorority in Texas. And who wouldn’t be? The Alpha Phi sisters […]

Sweet, Now They Can Clean the Bathrooms

Bush 2008 budget proposal contains big bucks for national parks With the National Park Service centennial looming in 2016, President Bush has proposed a 2008 budget boost that’s making park advocates swoon. It would add $230 million to the 2007 park funding request and $100 million more each year for 10 years, making an additional […]

Be afraid

According to the IPCC's Fourth Assessment (PDF), "discernible human influences now extend to other aspects of climate, including ocean warming, continental-average temperatures, temperature extremes and wind patterns."

The increases in oceanic temperature are particularly worrisome: "Observations since 1961 show that the average temperature of the global ocean has increased to depths of at least 3000 m and that the ocean has been absorbing more than 80% of the heat added to the climate system."