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A refreshing lack of green nagging in Copenhagen
For all the words, images, and video coming out of Copenhagen this month, I’m not sure anything is so clear and helpful as an op-ed in the Dec. 6 Washington Post, “To really save the planet, stop going green all alone.” If you’re going to forward one climate article to your sister in Dallas this […]
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‘Transparency’ is a hot issue in Copenhagen — but what does it mean?
Sergio Barbosa Serra. Photo courtesy Brazilian governmentCOPENHAGEN — I just had a cappuccino with Sergio Barbosa Serra, Brazil’s ambassador of climate change and one of the country’s top delegates at the Copenhagen talks. We discussed what’s going to get hashed out over the next 36 hours of the U.N. climate conference. He boiled the challenge […]
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Selling our future
In Chapter 1 of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, I underscore important indicators of global stability and resource consumption. The following are summaries of key datasets that inform these discussions. Each year, the Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy magazine rank 60 “failing states,” countries which on some level fail to provide personal […]
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Atlantic bluefin tuna inches towards protection
Can we change our tuna?With the Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery on the verge of collapse and ICCAT, the entity charged with protecting it, ignoring its own scientists’ call for a fishing ban, the tuna’s last hope appears to be a March 2010 meeting of an international wildlife management group. Marine biologists and fisheries experts (along […]
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USDA sustainable-ag czar Merrigan hits youtube
Way back in August 2006, I wrote a column arguing that farmers in northern areas could grow a lot more vegetables in the winter, if the USDA would invest in research and infrastructure for it. I wrote: If we wanted to make that vision come true for the nation’s northern climes, all it would take […]
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Senate’s chief climate denier makes Copenhagen cameo
The great leader of the Copen-deniers, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R), showed up on the Danish island of Copenhagen for a fly-by press event here at the international climate treaty. Sen. Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican, speaking at an impromptu news conference in the media center at climate talks, said there is no chance of climate […]
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For Wisconsin’s Doyle, it’s all about green jobs
When you think of renewable energy, the image that comes to mind is often a solar array in California, a windmill in Texas, or a cornfield in Iowa. Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) wants you to think of Wisconsin first, which explains why he’s one of several governors attending the Copenhagen climate talks. I sat […]
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Is the ‘climate debt’ discussion helpful?
I’m intrigued by this notion of “climate debt,” but before I get into it I want to make one thing clear: the transfer of substantial resources from rich to poor countries is necessary for a successful international treaty. It’s necessary for a successful attempt to address global climate change. Nothing below is meant to suggest […]
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Not Reid, not Godot: The whole world is waiting for YOU Mr. President
The world is aghast. It’s fate, it seems, “lies in the hands of a few U.S. Senators,” as Tuvalu negotiator Ian Fry lamented in his plea for a real, science-driven deal here in Copenhagen. The collective forehead of humanity wrinkles at the prospect. Who are these people? A couple of them from North Dakota, representing […]
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Walking the tightrope on climate action: getting to success in 2010
John Kerry delivered a speech in Copenhagen yesterday. It was inspiring, but look past the uplift and it reveals just how tricky the path forward will be. Here’s the needle Obama and Kerry are trying to thread: 1. Copenhagen talks end in substantial political agreement. That means developed countries will need to offer enough financing […]
