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Gore to testify to Congress

Here’s a handy political rule of thumb: don’t front on John Dingell. In recent weeks, House Speaker Pelosi moved to create a special committee on global warming chaired by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). It won’t have subpoena powers, but it will call hearings. It was a shot across Dingell’s bow, letting him know he better […]

Or just a distraction

Adam Stein of TerraPass (a major offset provider) argues in favor of offsets on the basis of additionality. (An offset is a payment by a polluter to somebody else to reduce their emissions so the polluter does not have to. Additionality is the claim that we know how much pollution would have occurred without the payment.) It's very generous of him to contribute to a discussion which will probably lead to a drop in sales of his company's product.

The key points in this argument are that a) measures of additionality are imprecise, and b) that fact matters a great deal more than the same imprecision in other methods of putting a price on carbon.

Let's examine the first point -- that additionality cannot be measured with much certainty or precision.

The scoop on the new IPCC climate-change report

What is the IPCC, and what’s the deal with its new report? When climate change emerged as an important environmental issue in the late 1980s, the world governments’ first response was to establish an international body to produce summaries of scientific knowledge of climate change. That body is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The […]

The 411 on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Unless you’ve been living under a rock — if so, way to live simply! — you’ve probably heard a smidgen about the summary of a hefty climate report released to the public today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In fact, you’ve probably heard the acronym “IPCC” bandied about with some regularity in the […]

Readers weigh in on trusting scientists, planting trees, the Super Bowl, and more

  Re: Whereof They Speak Dear Editor: Umbra, thanks for the discussion of the scientific process. It seems a good portion of the general public does not understand the rigor of science; progress in the field relies acutely on peer review. An idea won’t make it far unless it: a) has substantial quantitative support and […]

Beijing, London, and more on the Super Bowl

Because it’s Friday, I’m going to get a little crazy and bring you the green sports news in reverse chronological order. Brace yourselves. London has released a sustainable development strategy for its 2012 Olympics hosting, and it’s being billed as the greenest games in modern times. “The prize for hosting the 2012 Games will be […]

Opinions on the Fourth Assessment Report

Ahem, Scientific American, a few days ago: Global warming skeptics are already gearing up to deconstruct the IPCC report, whatever its conclusions. The Fraser Institute — a Canadian think tank devoted to denying climate change — plans to release its own independent summary on February 5, and conservative Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has decried the […]

The definitive word

RealClimate has a great post on today’s IPCC summary report that helps explain the process that developed it, put it in context, and identify what’s settled and what isn’t, science-wise. Required reading.

European NGO calls on the EU to abandon its proposed biofuel targets

A new European-based group calling itself "Biofuelwatch", on Wednesday issued an open letter addressed to the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and citizens of Europe, urging the EU to abandon its targets for biofuel use in Europe. Already, several other organizations and individuals have signed onto the letter.

The group is responding in part to a recent proposal by the European Commission to establish a mandatory minimum biofuel target of 10% of vehicle fuels by 2020.

From Condoms to Crow

If only they were 100 percent effective A new ad campaign popping up on U.K. campuses asks: What better way to protect against climate change than with a jimmy hat salami sling love glove condom? Better latex than never! And, uh, where can we get one that size? Image: Friends of the Earth Hoofin’ it […]