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How to stop the burning of the rainforests

Mongabay brings more news of a plan to compensate countries that still have tropical carbon sinks to keep them. An earlier post I did on this topic can be found here. Indonesia's minister of the environment tells us:

Preserving our forest means we can't exploit it for our economic benefits. We can't build roads or mines.

Which is true. We can't just ask them not to do it.

But we make an important contribution to the world by providing oxygen.

Which isn't true. The minister of the environment appears to think that there is a global oxygen shortage. Interestingly enough, this non-existent oxygen shortage was also mentioned in this post. But then, who am I to poke fun at the ignorance of a high ranking government official when our highest-ranking one makes this guy look like a rocket scientist?

Or just a distraction

Adam Stein of TerraPass (a major offset provider) argues in favor of offsets on the basis of additionality. (An offset is a payment by a polluter to somebody else to reduce their emissions so the polluter does not have to. Additionality is the claim that we know how much pollution would have occurred without the payment.) It's very generous of him to contribute to a discussion which will probably lead to a drop in sales of his company's product.

The key points in this argument are that a) measures of additionality are imprecise, and b) that fact matters a great deal more than the same imprecision in other methods of putting a price on carbon.

Let's examine the first point -- that additionality cannot be measured with much certainty or precision.

Readers weigh in on trusting scientists, planting trees, the Super Bowl, and more

  Re: Whereof They Speak Dear Editor: Umbra, thanks for the discussion of the scientific process. It seems a good portion of the general public does not understand the rigor of science; progress in the field relies acutely on peer review. An idea won’t make it far unless it: a) has substantial quantitative support and […]

Beijing, London, and more on the Super Bowl

Because it’s Friday, I’m going to get a little crazy and bring you the green sports news in reverse chronological order. Brace yourselves. London has released a sustainable development strategy for its 2012 Olympics hosting, and it’s being billed as the greenest games in modern times. “The prize for hosting the 2012 Games will be […]

Opinions on the Fourth Assessment Report

Ahem, Scientific American, a few days ago: Global warming skeptics are already gearing up to deconstruct the IPCC report, whatever its conclusions. The Fraser Institute — a Canadian think tank devoted to denying climate change — plans to release its own independent summary on February 5, and conservative Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has decried the […]

The definitive word

RealClimate has a great post on today’s IPCC summary report that helps explain the process that developed it, put it in context, and identify what’s settled and what isn’t, science-wise. Required reading.

European NGO calls on the EU to abandon its proposed biofuel targets

A new European-based group calling itself "Biofuelwatch", on Wednesday issued an open letter addressed to the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and citizens of Europe, urging the EU to abandon its targets for biofuel use in Europe. Already, several other organizations and individuals have signed onto the letter.

The group is responding in part to a recent proposal by the European Commission to establish a mandatory minimum biofuel target of 10% of vehicle fuels by 2020.

Be afraid

There is a bombshell buried in the middle of the IPCC report. So far, it hasn't received the attention it deserves. In a bullet point on the bottom of page twelve, the report says that dangerous feedback mechanisms are a ticking timebomb, and require dramatic action now.

Translated into plain English, they are saying that we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions far more than previously expected -- up to 27% more -- or else it will be impossible to deal with global warming because of feedback mechanisms. This is one of the central premises of my book Hell and High Water, and there was little indication it was going to be in the report. It is a meaningful addition.

The key bullet from the report (bottom of page 12):

You Wanna Peace of Him?

Al Gore nominated for Nobel Peace Prize Three cheers for Al Gore, whose incessant blabbering about climate change has gotten him nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. “Al Gore with his movie and his dedication and his active diplomacy among world leaders has really moved the issue forward,” says Boerge Brende, one of two […]

A Closer Look

In which we explain what the heck the IPCC is, and why it matters Chances are you’re not going to be able to turn around today without bumping into some reference to the new IPCC climate report. We’re not just saying that because we’re navel-gazing greens: try 1,624 news stories on Google, and counting. (OK, […]