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Carbon offsets that go to developing world forests rule

Here's an uplifting article by Rhett Butler over at Mongabay. It enables my personal eco-fantasy. It's titled, Avoided deforestation could help fight third world poverty under global warming pact. $43 billion could flow into developing countries:

When trees are cut greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere -- roughly 20 percent of annual emissions of such heat-trapping gases result from deforestation and forest degradation. Avoided deforestation is the concept where countries are paid to prevent deforestation that would otherwise occur. Funds come from industrialized countries seeking to meet emissions commitments under international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol. Policymakers and environmentalists alike find the idea attractive because it could help fight climate change at a low cost while improving living standards for some of the world's poorest people, safeguarding biodiversity, and preserving other ecosystem services. A number of prominent conservation biologists and development agencies including the World Bank and the U.N. have already endorsed the idea. [Even the United States government has voiced support for the plan.]

The article also arrived just in time to support my argument presented here. Don't you just love it when you find people who share your point of view?

Cheaper By the Ruzzin

Voters in Boulder, Colo., will vote on carbon tax next week Next week, Boulder, Colo., will seek to become the first U.S. city to impose a carbon tax on homes and businesses. If the progressive hotspot’s voters say yes, the per-kilowatt tax will raise the average home energy bill by less than $2 a month […]

Huanhe or Another

China adds two more industrial accidents to the ledger If it’s Thursday, it must be time for a story about an industrial accident in China. And while we’re at it, why not go for two? An ammonia leak at a fertilizer factory south of Beijing yesterday killed one worker, sickened six residents, and caused the […]

And I’ll Blow Your Case Down

U.S. Supreme Court hears opening arguments in Clean Air Act case Fans of respiration held their collective breath yesterday as the Supreme Court began hearing a case about Clean Air Act violations. The case addresses claims by Duke Energy and other companies that the U.S. EPA got lawsuit-happy in the Clinton era, trying to force […]

‘The temperature record is unreliable’–But temperature trends are clear and widely corroborated

(Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide)

Objection: The surface temperature record is full of assumptions, corrections, differing equipment and station settings, changing technology, varying altitudes, and more. It is not possible to claim we know what the "global average temperature" is, much less determine any trend. The IPCC graphs only say what the scientists want them to say.

The Stern report on climate change

While I hold firmly to my conviction that economic concerns are not the only or even the paramount considerations when charting a course through a changing climate, nevertheless: economics can't be ignored.

Thus, it is very good news that a reputable mainstream economist, Sir Nicholas Stern, has presented a detailed cost-benefit analysis of climate change mitigation and adaptation to the British government.

A nice little TV clip

Hey, this is cool. Check out a segment from Global TV news hour featuring Jim Hoggan, founder of DeSmogBlog, wherein he talks about the fossil-fuel-funded climate skeptic crowd.

Western ballot measures would gut environmental protections

A couple of weeks ago, while hurrying to a favorite trout stream, I was pulled over for speeding in a small town. I must have been fried from months of research and writing on the so-called "property rights" movement, because it suddenly occurred to me that the current system is backward.

So I said* to the officer: "Listen, if The Man wants me to obey his laws to keep this town safe, then he should pay me for my time."

Now if my reasoning with the cop sounds ridiculous to you,then you may have difficulty grasping the thinking behind the rash of ballot measures spreading across the West like ... well, like a rash.

But there you have it: there's a well-funded and highly ideological campaign with national marching orders. In 2006, they've landed initiatives on the ballot in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Washington. All the initiatives have the same aim: to force communities to pay property owners to obey land-use laws. And if communities can't pay, they must grant waivers from the law.

(Don't live in one of these states? There's one headed your way soon. Live in Europe? You're next.)

Flip flops on ethanol

Today, Charlie Pierce wrote this:

Someone please show me a single act of public political courage undertaken by John McCain since he won the New Hampshire primary in 2000 that he hasn't hedged, trimmed, or walked back completely. The Bush campaign trashed his wife and daughter, and he's spent the years since trying to get a job as the pool boy in Crawford. He gave a brave speech about the danger of political preachers, but he'd walk on his knees across broken glass to get himself blessed by Jerry Falwell's direct-mail people. But yesterday might well be the purest day of opportunistic sycophancy in the history of the Straight Talk Express. First, he jumps on the idiotic controversy du jour, lining up with the usual chickenhawk suspects to trash his "good friend" and fellow veteran John Kerry. But he does so at this thing, an event in support of a man who recently threw the term "cut-and-run" at Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs in Iraq. Ho-ho. Now that's some straight-talkin' for you. Presidential fever produces odd symptoms in people, but none of them as odd as what's happened to McCain. His ambition has made him a coward.

But Pierce forgot something.

We’re giving away two free tickets (and seeking volunteers to help at our booth)

Grist will be at the Green Festival in San Francisco on Nov. 10-12. Wanna come? The Green Festival folks have given us two free tickets to hand out to lucky readers. Email us at emailE=('volunteer@' + 'grist.org') document.write('' + emailE + '') with "pick me!" in the subject line by 5 p.m. PST on Nov. 2 for a chance to win.

Green Festival is the largest sustainability event in the U.S., with speakers, how-to workshops, music, organic eats and drinks, and displays from eco-friendly businesses and nonprofits (including, of course, Grist). Progressive luminaries strutting their stuff onsite will include Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry's fame), Amy Goodman, Hunter Lovins, John Robbins, David Suzuki, and Alice Walker. (Check out the full schedule for details.) The whole shebang will be carbon-neutral. About 30,000 people attended last year's Green Festival in San Francisco.

If you aren't one of the ticket winners, we can still get you in free if you volunteer to work a shift at the Grist booth. Email emailE=('volunteer@' + 'grist.org') document.write('' + emailE + '') for more info.

And, if you're going to be in the Bay Area on Nov. 10, be sure to come to our reader party in San Francisco. Organic booze, door prizes, witty banter -- pun will be had by all.