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John McCain talks nuclear security, promises to promote ‘civilian’ nukes

John McCain gave a speech on nuclear security this morning at the University of Denver, and given his abiding love of nuclear power as the solution to climate change, that came up too. Where there’s “civilian” nuclear energy, there’s the possibility for nuclear weapons — and if he’s promoting the former, that leads to plenty […]

Climate change doing a number on U.S. West, says USDA report

Climate change is having “profound impacts” on the U.S. West and will continue to do so in coming decades, says a new report spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Titled “The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity,” the report focuses on Western rangelands, arid lands, forests, and fisheries. […]

Fortune Brainstorm: Green conference wrap-up site

Remember that Brainstorm: Green conference I went to last month, put on by Fortune magazine? Now Fortune has put together a mini-site devoted to the conference, with tons of pictures, videos, slides, and links to blog posts about the presentations. Notably absent from the latter: a link to my posts on the conference. What am […]

If cost-containment mechanisms in new climate bill are exploited, emissions could remain unchanged

The short, snarky answer is "No; Boxer-Lieberman-Warner is never going to become law." The longer, analytical answer, which is the primary subject of this post, is "probably not, thanks to the bill's many cost containment measures, but it would take us off the business-as-usual emissions path."

Before explaining why, let me make clear that the vote on B-L-W is purely symbolic, since it is DOA as a bill can be. Most of the media, most of the public, and most of the world are unlikely to get much detail on the bill. They will just see whether a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade bill can get a majority, if not 60 votes, in the U.S. Senate. So I would recommend any senator vote for it -- after giving a floor statement explaining that it was in fact too weak. I can't see casting a protest vote against a symbolic bill while asserting it is too weak. The protest would get lost in the noise. Finally, it would be the height of hypocrisy for a conservative senator to cite progressive critiques of the bill, including mine, as a reasons to vote against it. Anyone who votes against this bill should at least have the guts to say whether they themselves think the bill is too weak or too strong.

Why the Boxer bill wouldn't cut U.S. CO2 emissions by 2020

This story begins late Friday night, when Deep 'emissions cut' Throat sends me the World Resources Institute's 14-page summary of the Boxer substitute to the Lieberman-Warner bill [PDF], with a note, "Does this mean no emission reductions until 2028? See bottom of page 6." Intrigued, I turned to the bottom of page 6 and read this bullet:

Climate bill fight likely to divide Republicans

Politico reports on the divide between John McCain and other Republicans on climate change: By contrast, the debate on a bipartisan climate change bill sponsored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) offers McCain a chance to stake out a position different from the president’s and see if his party will follow. […]

Melting Antarctic glaciers may be releasing DDT, says study

Adélie penguins in the Antarctic are as chock-full of pesticide DDT as they were in the 1970s, even though global DDT use has dropped 80 percent in the past three decades, says new research published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Researchers speculate that climate change is at fault — honestly, is there anything […]

Well-informed Republicans are not concerned about climate change

A new analysis of survey data finds: The more Democrats think they know about global warming, the more concerned they are. But Republicans who consider themselves well informed on the topic seem no more worried than those who profess ignorance, a study suggests. What’s going on? Here’s my one-sentence diagnosis: Democrats are more likely to […]

Nations meet to hash out claims to Arctic seafloor

What with climate change melting record amounts of Arctic ice, the five nations that claim land rights in the Arctic region have been rushing to stake claim to the minerals and oil wealth beneath the Arctic Ocean. Starting Tuesday, Denmark is hosting talks among the five countries, aiming to bring a measure of civility to […]

Personal carbon trading considered in U.K.

Britain should go ahead with a carbon-credit trading system for individuals, a committee of Members of Parliament has recommended. The system could be modeled on cap-and-trade programs for industry, setting a cap on the amount of carbon each person is allowed to emit and requiring those who would exceed their allotment to purchase credits from […]

G8 nations agree on the need to agree on emission cuts

A three-day meeting of G8 environment ministers in Japan this weekend concluded with a familiar call for nations to agree on goals to cut emissions. The sentiment was formalized in a statement citing “strong political will” among G8 countries to agree to cut emissions by 50 percent by 2050 when they convene at the full […]