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Tyler Hamilton speak. You listen.

Last night’s debate

Yeah, so, there was a Democratic debate last night. Far as I can tell, there wasn’t much said about energy or the environment (except in the clean coal ads brought to viewers by debate sponsor ABEC). Both candidates briefly mentioned creating a green economy, but it wasn’t the subject of any back and forth or […]

United Nations calls climate change a matter of human rights

If climate change is a “largely unscientific hoax” and “political concoction” (in the words of Republican strategist Mary Matalin), it’s a hoax and concoction that could threaten the rights of millions of people. Or so said the United Nations deputy high commissioner for human rights this week. “Ultimately climate change may affect the very right […]

GM exec defends calling climate change a ‘crock of shit’

A couple weeks back, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, at a roundtable with reporters, casually mentioned that he thinks global warming is a "crock of shit." (His point was that it makes sense to develop an all-electric vehicle either way.) Lots and lots of people, mainly bloggers, got in a huge uproar about it. Yesterday, […]

Geek humor

Volker Weber provides a strong counterargument to my posts favoring public investment (very funny, if you are a certain kind of geek):

Companies not following through on pledge to lobby for carbon reduction

Companies participating in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership have pledged to lobby for a mandatory cap on U.S. carbon emissions, but — and there’s always a but — many of those same corporations are working behind the scenes to undermine greenhouse-gas regulation. Just a few examples: USCAP members General Electric and Caterpillar sit on the […]

First time tragedy, second time farce … what about the third?

Ralph Nader announced his 2004 candidacy for president on NBC’s Meet the Press. According to the Nader exploratory committee, Nader will be appearing on Meet the Press this Sunday. Christ.

Strongbadia gets a gulp o’ greenwashing

Remember that goofy ‘toon site Homestarrunner.com and its boxing-gloved, email-answering hero, Strong Bad? Well, apparently not even web cartoon characters are safe from the fierce green gaze of environmental imperialism: his readers finally call him out on his lack of eco-initiative. So what does Strong Bad do to help save the planet? You mean, besides […]

Gas pricing, Big Oil, and carbon pricing

Apropos of British Columbia's big announcement, I have some ranting to get off my chest. One of the most frustrating things about U.S. climate policy is the reflexive fear that if we ever raise the price of gas -- or of driving generally -- people will riot in the streets or something. This makes it exceedingly difficult to rearrange the economy away from oil and its carbon contents.

But, of course, the price of gas keeps rising anyway. In fact, crude oil prices have more than tripled over the last half-dozen years, with futures closing above $100 recently.

To be sure, there's a silver lining to higher prices: they really do dampen demand, despite what you hear all the time. But it's a silver lining to a dark and ugly cloud: high energy prices mean that consumers are taking it on the chin -- and especially low-income consumers. And worse, all the revenue from the high prices goes to the energy companies. If prices had risen because of taxes or carbon fees, then the public could be reaping the windfall that big oil is raking in now.

For a decade, lawmakers have balked at the prospect of $20-per-ton carbon taxes (a figure that is sometimes kicked around as a price that would get us on the right track). Eighty dollars per ton sets off screaming and wailing. But those figures translate into an additional 20 to 78 cents, respectively, per gallon at the pump. In the time that we've all been afraid of those comparatively modest figures, the price at the pump has jumped $2 or more.

We could have been intentional about getting ourselves off oil, and about protecting consumers from price spikes. But instead, we've opted for the expensive and volatile route: we'll do nothing and hope for the best.

Now let's just hope we can figure out a cap-and-trade program that doesn't send any price signal to drivers.

French automaker and waste-management biz team up to recycle cars

French automaker Renault has announced that it will team up with waste-management company Sita to develop end-of-life recycling for automobiles. A European Union directive requires new vehicles to be 95 percent recyclable by 2015, as compared to 85 percent now.