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$200 a day – why Sierra Leone will get screwed at Copenhagen

Behind the smart suits, tinted windows, and Swiss fountain pens of COP15 there are delegates from poorer countries who struggle to attend the conference and struggle to have a voice amongst the well-polished rhetoric of the E.U. and American delegations. One such country is Sierra Leone.

Climate advocates should build ties with the public-health community

They can be climate activists too.“Green jobs now” has become the rallying cry for environmental activists over the last few years as they have worked to build political support for climate action by tying it to economic growth — a powerful message in a world rocked by the worst recession in decades. Politicians have responded […]

The ‘leaked draft’ non-story and Copenhagen journo-hype

The latest story out of Copenhagen has to do with a leaked draft agreement put together by Denmark, the U.S., and the U.K. According to the Guardian‘s breathless coverage, the leak has climate talks in “disarray,” with developing countries at war with rich countries and the whole edifice getting ready to collapse. Disarray I tell […]

The specter of violence in Copenhagen

Cops after an Ungdomshuset demonstration in Copenhagen.Photo courtesy aai4c via Flickr One of the questions hanging over Copenhagen for these two weeks is whether there will be significant violence, especially at mass rallies. The city’s English-language newspaper (turns out there is one) has an interesting article about the very long shifts that Danish police will […]

Roberts, take 3: New energy sources are cheaper than trying to clean coal

This is the last entry in a series of six email exchanges between two climate-change experts on the future use of coal. The series was originally posted here. Editorial note: The price of energy should reflect its “true” cost, Roberts argues. Non-renewable dirty sources like coal should be priced to take into account their real […]

Mackler, take 3: The technology is right here, right now

This is the fifth entry in a series of six email exchanges between two climate-change experts on the future use of coal. The series was originally posted here. Editorial note: Current social and political barriers to adopting carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) are not insurmountable, Mackler argues. The first step toward a solution lies […]

Roberts, take 2: We don’t have time for capital-intensive industrial mega-projects

This is the fourth entry in a series of six email exchanges between two climate-change experts on the future use of coal. The series was originally posted here. Editorial note: Time is of the essence, Roberts argues. We must be agile and find solutions that can be rapidly implemented, learned from, and refined, rather than […]

Mackler, take 2: We don’t have time for major shifts in energy policy

This is the third entry in a series of six email exchanges between two climate-change experts on the future use of coal. The series was originally posted here. Editorial note: Mackler argues that the world lacks time for its leaders to navigate the political process necessary for a complete change of energy policy direction. Large-scale […]

Roberts, take 1: Coal is in short supply, expensive, and cannot be made clean

This is the second entry in a series of six email exchanges between two climate-change experts on the future use of coal. The series was originally posted here. Editorial note: Roberts argues that the key question is not “how can we best reduce carbon dioxide emissions?” Rather, we need to confront a more fundamental question […]

Mackler, take 1: Clean coal is a necessary part of fighting climate change

This is the first entry in a series of six email exchanges between two climate-change experts on the future use of coal. The series was originally posted here. Editoral note: While Sasha Mackler agrees that coal is one of the primary contributors to detrimental climate change, he argues that using current technology to develop low-carbon […]