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In last-minute stunner, Obama changes plans to attend final day of Copenhagen talks

On Friday, the Obama administration announced a startling shift in plans: rather than stop by the Copenhagen climate talks on Dec. 9, Obama will be going on the 18th, the final day of the meeting — a notable increase in commitment (and political exposure) from the administration. The first week of every COP meeting consists […]

Lessons from fossil-fueled rats

New research from Cairo shows that rats become more belligerent when exposed to gasoline fumes and tailpipe pollution. If the same thing happens to humans, it might explain why the guy in the Escalade was waving his Smith & Wesson on the freeway in L.A. the other night, but it may also highlight the co-benefits […]

Watergate redux: Break-ins reported at another top climate research center

Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Watergate hotel. Photo: NARATwo weeks ago, thousands of illegally hacked emails from a British climate research center were dumped on a Russian webserver, timed to influence the politics of of the international climate negotiations commencing next week in Copenhagen, Denmark. Beginning Thanksgiving week, conservative media and Republican politicians have compared […]

The tough task of evaluating Kyoto

The Kyoto Protocol has taken criticism from all sides over the years. But in fairness, it is important to recognize that, according to almost any estimate, the treaty has resulted in surpassed targets in some nations, significant emissions reductions even in nations that may miss their targets, and a marked improvement over business-as-usual had there been no […]

‘The Story of Cap-and-Trade’: This moment demands better solutions

The subtitle of The Story of Cap-and-Trade — the short film released this week by The Story of Stuff Project, Climate Justice Now, and the Durban Group for Climate Justice — is “Why you can’t solve a problem with the thinking that created it.” Our goal in releasing the film was to make a simple […]

‘Climategate’ is a diversion

Magicians divert us with wands and puffs of smoke. Bullfighters fool steers with flashes of cape at just the right moment. Even Shakespeare understood: Things in motion sooner catch the eye than what not stirs. The human brain likes movement, and that makes it poorly equipped to think about climate change. Scientists warn that, on […]

It’s the economy, stupid!

With the employment news today about 100,000 jobs better than expected — “the nation’s employers had all but stopped shedding jobs in November” — I thought I’d run this graph Nate Silver posted a couple weeks ago in a post titled, “It’s [Still] The Economy, Dumbass.” Nate wrote “this is my favorite graph in quite […]

Bismarck Tribune editorial: Alternative energy jobs pay green

It’s no dig to say North Dakota has a long and profitable relationship with lignite coal. And it will likely continue. But make no mistake, the development of alternative energy sources, and the accompanying “green” jobs, will not be turned away. As the Tribune has said before, the state is best served by an energy […]

Graham says Obama has his back on climate bill

Sen. Lindsey Graham may be under fire from conservatives back home in South Carolina. But the Republican got a personal assurance from President Obama yesterday that the White House is supporting his efforts to craft a sweeping Senate energy and global warming bill. “The president told me personally he was very open, that nuclear power […]

Senator Byrd stunner:

Change has been a constant throughout the history of our coal industry. West Virginians can choose to anticipate change and adapt to it, or resist and be overrun by it. One thing is clear. The time has arrived for the people of the Mountain State to think long and hard about which course they want […]