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Snippets from the news

• China’s greenhouse-gas emissions could double or more in next 20 years. • Former Spanish prime minister calls climate change a “new religion.” • Japan launches voluntary carbon market. • Seoul goes big for bicycles. • Could thorium solve nuclear waste-disposal woes? • Safeway will ban baby bottles containing bisphenol A. • Environmentalists sue EPA […]

Palin can’t name a single man-made cause of climate change

Sarah Palin has now offered a variety of views on climate change. When asked about her changing rhetoric on the issue at the VP debate, Palin said, “There is something to be said also for man’s activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet.” She added, “I don’t want to argue about […]

Crist says McCain is a ‘strong proponent of climate change’

“He’s been such a strong proponent of climate change, and we all know how important the environment is to our fellow Floridians.” — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R), referring to Republican presidential candidate John McCain on a recent conference call

Feds boost geothermal energy development

Here’s some steamy action: The Department of Interior on Wednesday announced plans to open 97 million acres of public land in 12 states to geothermal energy development. The plan could more than quadruple the U.S.’s current output of underground-heat power, potentially generating enough electricity to power 5.5 million homes by 2015 and 12 million by […]

A talk that’s tougher than ‘the birds and the bees’

Here’s a gem from Sandra Steingraber, "The Big Talk," on how to talk to kids about climate change (or "how to tell a six-year-old where all the birds and bees have gone"). She discusses this tricky topic in greater depth with Orion magazine editor Hal Clifford in this audio interview. This is essential listening for […]

My review of Tom Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded

I just noticed that my review of Tom Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded (along with two other books, from EDF’s Fred Krupp and RAN’s Mike Brune) is now available online in full, should anyone still be interested.

Federal spending, quick!

Paul Krugman was my favorite New York Times columnist even before he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics this week. His column on Friday lined right up with my current obsession: federal stimulus spending, quick, lots of it. He writes: “Right now, increased government spending is just what the doctor ordered, and concerns about […]

Massive U.N. study attempts to do for biodiversity what IPCC did for climate

When Wall Street saw around $1-$1.5 trillion dollars go up in smoke from the financial sector, the world rightfully freaked the hell out. Meanwhile, the world is burning up between $2 trillion and $5 trillion of capital a year through global forest loss. That’s the cumulative value of the lost services forests provide, including carbon […]

Four member states and E.U.-15 on track to meet Kyoto goals

On Saturday, I reported that 15 E.U. countries were on track to meet Kyoto targets, but some readers — including Roger Pielke, Jr. (!) — were skeptical. Now the European Environment Agency has released a lot of the underlying data, “Greenhouse gas emission trends and projections in Europe 2008.” Figure ES-1 (click to enlarge) tells […]

U.N. initiative urges green global economy

Fear not: The economic, food, and climate crises can be tackled in one fell swoop, says the United Nations Environment Program. The organization launched a Green Economy Initiative Wednesday, comparing it to Franklin Roosevelt’s Depression-tackling New Deal. “Investments will soon be pouring back into the global economy,” says Pavan Dukdhev of Deutsche Bank, which is […]