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The Rest of the Story of Cap and Trade

Recently, we’re hearing another round of questions about the cap and trade approach to curbing global warming pollution. For instance, there’s an entertaining cartoon going around called “The Story of Cap and Trade” questioning whether climate legislation based on cap and trade will do the job.  Scientist James Hansen and economist Paul Krugman offer opposing perspectives […]

Amy Bauman is greening the construction industry, one steel I-beam at a time

This interview is part of a series on people who are making their communities smarter, greener places to live. Got a nomination? Leave it in the comments section or send it along to us. Redoing a kitchen? Hosting a national convention? Demolishing a school? Things are bound to get trashy, and that’s where Amy Bauman […]

No climate action, no peace, says Obama in Nobel speech

President Obama delivers his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Photo: Nobelprize.org In accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo today, President Obama touched briefly on the issue of climate change, lumping it in with a laundry list of “soft” issues like economic security, food security, and education. Here’s the excerpt, which came very late in […]

Accept it in Oslo, earn it in Copenhagen

Today is “Young and Future Generations Day” here at the International Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen, and I’m here with my wife Wahleah and our two-year-old daughter Tohaana. Along with over a thousand other young people, mostly wearing orange t-shirts today, we’re doing everything in our power to convince world leaders to commit to a fair, […]

Obama's broken promises, disappointing and dangerous to farmers, consumers

“And it means ensuring that the policies being shaped at the Departments of Agriculture and Interior are designed to serve not big agribusiness or Washington influence peddlers, but the family farmers and the American People.” President-elect Barack Obama, December 17 2008, Chicago, Illinois. The message was one of hope, the words of a newly elected […]

Naomi Klein says Obama’s stiffing Africa on climate

Cross-posted from MotherJones.com. Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International.Photo: foei via Flickr A highlight of my time at COP15 so far was a conversation with the extraordinary Nigerian poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends of the Earth International. We talked about the fact that some of the toughest activists here […]

Climate skeptics descend on the Copenhagen talks

Cross-posted from MotherJones.com. The Bella Center, the venue hosting the Copenhagen climate negotiations, is overflowing with advocates seeking action on climate change. But their opponents have turned out in force too. They’re a little harder to identify than, say, the activists walking around dressed as trees. But working the crowds are some of the biggest […]

Can delicious crepes create a buckwheat revival?

Just add Paris: buckwheat crepes in their glory.April McGregerMy love for buckwheat first blossomed in the Soba-ya shops of Japan. Years later, that love was rekindled on the sidewalks of Paris eating Galletes de Sarrasin, or Breton-style savory buckwheat crepes, washed down with hard apple cider in stoneware cups. I found the deep, pleasantly bitter, […]

Exxon’s man in Copenhagen

Brian Flannery.Photo: Jonathan HiskesI tracked down Brian Flannery today. He’s the top climate advisor for ExxonMobil, a veteran of international climate talks, and a bona fide villain in the eyes of environmental groups. That’s largely due to Exxon’s funding of front groups that sow misinformation about the urgency of climate change. Today Flannery was wearing […]

NASA climate scientist should come back to earth

Eric’s take on Jim Hansen’s opposition to cap and trade is exactly right.  Hansen is a renowned NASA climate scientist.  But on climate policy, he’s just lost in space.  Now, I’m not going to call Hansen’s support for carbon taxes misguided.  Remember, we LIKE carbon taxes. We’ve given BC’s pathbreaking carbon tax lots of sloppy […]