Latest Articles
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Umbra on cooking oil, again
Dear Umbra, You missed a fantastic opportunity to promote biodiesel use of the cooking oil. There are many people collecting frying oil from restaurants and the like, and perhaps the reader could find a person collecting as well. Check newspaper ads for persons collecting or check the restaurants in your neighborhood for who is collecting. […]
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WTO may slash tariffs on green goods
The United States and European Union have proposed that the 151 members of the World Trade Organization agree to slash tariffs on at least 43 “green” goods — solar panels, wind turbines, and the like — to boost their global use. A recent World Bank study suggested that removing such barriers to trade of clean-energy […]
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This Hanukkah, make time to reflect on climate and conservation
There are three levels of wisdom through which Hanukkah invites us to address the planetary dangers of the global climate crisis — what some of us call “global scorching” because “warming” seems so pleasant, so comforting. Light a candle, heal the earth. Photo: iStockphoto We can encode these three teachings into actions we take to […]
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Winning the battle in Bali, and then winning the war
Since COP13 / MOP3 -- hereafter "Bali" -- has begun, I thought I'd send a brief note on expectations and strategy. Brief because there's too much to say, so I shouldn't try. Besides, I'll try to post again in a few days.
Here's the thing: Bali is freighted with terrific expectations, which are entirely appropriate given the state of the science. We now "know," insofar as we can know these things, that we've got to do everything to hold total temperature increase from global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, and that to have a good chance of doing so global emissions are going to peak by 2015.
In other words, we now know this is an emergency situation. So why would we demand anything except emergency action? No reason at all. Which is why EcoEquity signed the "Call for Climate Talks to Accelerate Global Economic and Energy Transitions: What Bali Must Achieve" (PDF), now being circulated by the Institute for Policy Studies and the International Forum on Globalization.
The Call urges negotiators to pursue three paths:
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Australia ratifies Kyoto Protocol, over a quarter of U.S. bird species imperiled, and more
Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: No Continent Is an Island A Beak Outlook Angrier By the Dozen It’s Really A Musing Good Car-ma
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America’s climate and energy future
This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.
A few weeks ago, one of the presidential candidates' advisors challenged a group of climate leaders to describe America's future. His challenge triggered a flurry of e-mails as we attempted to articulate a vision.We talked about carbon caps and price signals and new investments in R&D. That's fine, the advisor responded, but what it the vision? What is America's perfect future?
I'm not sure we ever satisfactorily answered this very good question, but I found myself trying to describe what America might look like 10, 20, and 40 years from now.
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As climate conference kicks off, defenses are up
When I visited Bali 20 years ago, the beaches teemed with people offering any manner of products and services, and the most abundant seemed to be blowguns. Lying in the sand with your eyes closed, you could just hear, above the rhythmic lapping of the waves, the repeated murmur of “Blowgun? Blowgun? Blowgun?” What the […]
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Divorce costs even more for these Java couples
It may be better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, but authorities in the Indonesian region of Sragen think it’s better to have loved, lost, and helped the climate. Couples seeking divorce have to pay a fee that goes toward planting 25 trees in the area where they live. […]
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Brad Pitt wants you — to help with his NOLA green-building project
Brad Pitt — OMG he’s so dreamy! Sorry, reflex. Where were we? Brad Pitt today unveiled designs submitted by architecture firms for his Make It Right campaign to build 150 affordable, sustainable, storm-safe houses in New Orleans. Architects were asked to design a 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom house for about $150,000. Pitt also unveiled a display of […]
