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The next president needs to move with speed and clear vision on mitigating climate change

This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

As I mentioned in a previous post, many of my colleagues in climate-action circles are delighted at the detailed commitments the presidential candidates in the Democratic field are making around global warming. It seems ungrateful to ask them for more. But ask we must.

We need to know what they'll do to act quickly. And we need to hear their unifying vision for the post-carbon world.

On speed: We've all read Jim Hansen's warning that the international community must take significant action within a decade if we wish to avoid the most dangerous consequences of global warming.

Now the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has moved up the deadline. In announcing the IPCC's final report on Nov. 16, Rajendra Pachuari warned, "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment."

Notable quotable

“I know that this president does not harbor any resentments. Never has.” — White House press secretary Dana Perino, on President Bush’s private meeting with Nobel laureate Al Gore

Canada sets aside huge tracts of land for protection

The Canadian government plans to set aside 25.5 million acres of northern boreal forest and tundra as protected land, off-limits from resource development. The total acreage (hectarage?) of the protected area is 11 times the size of Yellowstone National Park — or, in Canadian, about twice the size of Nova Scotia and more than five […]

A great summary of recent studies on green jobs

Clean energy, a job-creation engine already generating impressive performance, will rev up to even higher levels in coming years. A comprehensive new fact sheet (PDF) from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute strongly documents these trends with capsule summaries of dozens of recent studies on the topic.

In the last several years, numerous studies have validated the emergence of renewable energy and energy efficiency as a major new economic and employment driver. EESI -- a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that educates Capitol Hill on energy issues and the general public on energy legislation -- has created this invaluable fact sheet to survey many of the major national, state, and industry studies. Here are a few samples:

Umbra on used cooking oil

Dear Umbra, It’s always nice to look through cookbooks and to watch cooking shows that feature yummy deep-fried food, and I have often been tempted to try and cook my own creations. However, no one ever seems to mention what they do with the used cooking oil, especially after deep-frying. What is the best way […]

Scientists urge investment in deeper understanding of the deep

Things we know about the world’s oceans: They’re big. They’re watery. They’re in bad shape. And that’s about it. To that end, the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans is urging the 72-nation Group on Earth Observations, which meets this week, to invest $2 billion to $3 billion over the next decade in a […]

Cheaper to power Nevada with renewables than coal, says consultancy

Nevada will end up with costlier power if it goes ahead with plans to build three new coal plants instead of relying on renewables, says a study from an independent economic consultancy. Higher construction costs and an inevitable tax on emissions will drive up costs of the black rock in the not-so-long run, according to […]

Australia elects prime minister who wants to ratify Kyoto Protocol, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Add-Ministering First Aid Good on Gordon Plying Chicken It’s Still Dammed If They Do, And Damned If They Don’t Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Oh, You Shouldn’t Have Fry, Fry Again Java Script

Is the analogy between climate change and Hitler’s atrocities appropriate?

Andy Revkin has an interesting post on Dot Earth about global warming and Holocaust analogies. On Oct. 22, climate scientist James Hansen testified before the utilities board in his home state of Iowa. He said, among 59 pages of other stuff, this: If we cannot stop the building of more coal-fired power plants, those coal […]

Palm oil may be certified sustainable, some greens skeptical

Hoping to quell criticism from biofuel bashers, palm-oil producers have drawn up criteria for certifying their product as sustainable. It’s a nice idea, but green group Friends of the Earth has threatened to withdraw its support of the standards, saying that Malaysia and Indonesia — which together produce nearly 85 percent of the world’s palm […]