Latest Articles
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Blogging from Al Gore’s speech in Bali
Post by Richard Graves, U.S. youth delegate and editor of It's Getting Hot in Here
As I wrote this post, I was listening to Al Gore give his speech at the U.N. Climate Negotiations. It had been a long trip here, and despite the schedule and the heat I was still excited. As we sat in the audience, we spoke with Kevin Knobloch from UCS and watched Kelley trying to talk with U.S. representative Paula Dobriansky ... but we were all here to listen to Al Gore.
I was surprised to hear him lead with a reference from the Holocaust, but it hit home. How can we ignore those who are the harbingers of the threat of climate change. People can't ignore stories of people like Claire Antrea, a young nun from Kiribati whose home is being flooded. These threats are coming for us, and the sense of urgency must come from the fact the science is changing so fast that none of us, even in the developed world, can assume we are safe.
This is a powerful idea, and one that seems to be coming true.
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Green group ranks eco-friendliness of shipping companies
We haven’t even bought our Christmas presents yet, but if yours are all wrapped and ready to ship, be aware: green group Climate Counts has ranked shipping companies on their eco-friendliness. DHL and the U.S. Postal Service are tops, according to the ranking, although with scores of 45 and 43 out of 100, they indicate […]
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Louisiana’s Sen. Landrieu votes against party, for Big Oil
When the energy bill went before the Senate yesterday morning, it had been stripped of the Renewable Energy Standard, but it still retained the tax package, which would have reversed $13.5 billion in tax breaks to oil and gas companies to help pay for $21 billion worth of investment in renewable energy. Republicans, as always, […]
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Drown my sorrows in rivers and celluloid
Ugh. That was rough. I need a pick-me-up, and the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival can't come soon enough. I've never been, but Nevada City is special and the South Yuba River Citizen's League does great work.
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Arlen Specter proclaims importance of fighting climate change in Bali; votes against it in D.C.
In a letter to the president (PDF), 52 members of Congress expressed their disapproval of the U.S. stance in Bali: The clear implication is that the United States will refuse to agree to any language putting the United States on an established path toward scientifically-based emission limits … We write to express our strong disagreement […]
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Bali climate meeting goes overtime, drops specific emissions targets
The two-week United Nations climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, has gone into overtime, lasting past its scheduled end as the U.S., Canada, and Japan duked it out with European countries and developing nations in a battle over emissions targets. As expected, the U.S. team, led by Chief Negotiator “Snarlin'” Harlan Watson, has successfully negotiated against […]
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Honda plans small “affordable” hybrid car for U.S. market by 2009
Honda Motor Co. has announced it plans to improve the fuel-efficiency of its U.S. fleet by using “affordable” hybrid-engine technology in at least one model of subcompact car by 2009, as well as offering diesel versions of its larger vehicles. A company official characterized the plan this way: “At this moment, we say hybrid for […]
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Once in place, the RFS will be nigh impossible to eliminate
Several posts during the past week, and countless ones elsewhere, have asked people to support the Energy Bill making its way through Congress. Some people have no problem with one of its major provisions, which calls for substantially expanding the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) -- the regulation that requires minimum amounts of ethanol, biodiesel, or other biofuels to be incorporated into the volume of transport fuels used each year. Indeed, some would even welcome the prospect.
Many others do not like the idea, but seem to feel that it is a price worth paying in order to preserve solar investment tax credits as well as production tax credits for large-scale renewable projects. (A national Renewable Electricity Standard has already been dropped from the bill.) Some of those people then argue, in effect, we can always go back and repeal the RFS next year.
Next joke.
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San Francisco mayor proposes strict green-building standards
San Francisco would have the most stringent green-building standards in the U.S. if the city Board of Supervisors adopts a new measure proposed yesterday by Mayor Gavin Newsom. By 2012, Newsom wants all new residential buildings over 75 feet tall, commercial buildings of more than 5,000 square feet, and renovations on buildings of more than […]
