Latest Articles

The Climate Post: L’Aquila, the Senate, and shrinking sheep

First Things First: Conflicting early reports obscured events at a major international summit in L’Aquila, Italy. The Group of Eight has apparently resolved to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, but disagreed on thorny “mid-term targets,” to be reached by 2020 or so. And key players, such as the United States, have no […]

Boxer and Reid delay Senate action on climate bill until September

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, is now telling reporters that she won’t have a climate and energy bill ready for a vote in her committee until September, a significant delay for the legislation. Just a few days ago, her staff was outlining goals for getting legislation ready in […]

The Informal Economy: Michael Jackson Edition

  This article is part of a collaboration with Planetizen, the web’s leading resource for the urban planning, design, and development community. I couldn’t resist. I knew it was going to be a madhouse in downtown L.A. for Michael Jackson’s memorial service, but I had to go see what it was like — not because […]

Carbon trading: Worthy of Feinstein’s ire?

“Deregulation shifts the major burden of consumer protection to the competitive market, and therefore, in important measure, to the enforcement of antitrust laws.” – Alfred E. Kahn, Lessons for Deregulation: Telecommunications and Airlines after the Crunch. I’ve always found the above to be one of the wiser quotes about deregulation. (Kahn, for those who don’t […]

On the legality of feed-in tariffs in the US

For the past year we’ve been involved in a proceeding before the California Public Utilities Commission on an effort to establish a feed-in tariff, or standard offer contracting program for renewables.  We believe it can be a healthy complement to the state’s other renewable energy programs—i.e. the California Solar Incentive for behind-the-meter generation, and the […]

So what is carbon anyway?

This is an excerpt from the book The Carbon Age: How Life’s Core Element Has Become Civilization’s Greatest Threat, newly released in paperback. Carbon is all over the news, but what is it?“You will be astonished when I tell you what this curious play of carbon amounts to.” — Michael Faraday Welcome to the Carbon […]

Australia’s real climate on climate change

This article was co-written with Erwin Jackson, Director of Policy and Research at the Climate Institute, Australia’s leading independent policy think tank on climate change. The U.S. House of Representatives has joined the Obama administration in its resolve to finally move forward and address the problem of global warming by recently passing the American Clean […]

The Carbon Logic Problem Statement

An acclaimed mountaineer, a Baptist minister and a distinguished economist were stuck in a pit. The mountain climber said, “Stand back boys, I’ll have us out in a jiffy,” but the walls of the pit were loose shale and she couldn’t gain purchase. Then the minster raised his arms high and in a deep sonorous […]

Urban Gardens

San Francisco to get more urban gardens.  Thanks, Gavin. And here’s a how-to that I look forward to reading.

A milestone: 100th coal plant stopped

As of today, 100 coal plants have been defeated or abandoned since the beginning of the coal rush. Late yesterday, news came down that Utah-based Intermountain Power Agency is abandoning plans for a third coal-fired generator in the state. This news comes as President Obama is at the G8 summit in Italy discussing action on […]