Articles by David Roberts

Oil giant forecasts continued rise in emissions through 2050

Exxon-Mobil believes the world is doomed to drought, floods, massive refugee crises, disease, and rising sea levels. According to its "outlook for energy: a view to 2030," global CO2 emissions will rise 30 percent by 2030. That will effectively make holding global average temperatures to 2 degrees over pre-industrial levels -- what the IPCC says is necessary to avoid catastrophe -- impossible. To hit that target, global emissions must peak by 2015.

Of course Exxon doesn't put it that way. They just cheerfully chatter on about all the great energy they're going to sell to meet all that demand -- that is, the role they're going to play in rendering the earth hostile to their grandchildren.

Wherein I praise the mainstream media from the back of an airborne porcine vehicle

I was bashing on Newsweek the other day, and in general that magazine really is weak on climate/energy issues.

Lest you think I'm just a hater of old media, however, I should point out that Newsweek competitor Time has been doing fantastic stuff on green issues lately, mainly thanks to the tag team of Michael Grunwald and Bryan Walsh.

Black lung is back!

"After a couple of years, something changed. I began to see the type of disease that was only in the textbooks -- this massive fibrosis, where the lung is basically destroyed. It's nothing but black scar tissue. I was incredulous. And it was young people. It wasn't the older miners. I thought, something is wrong here. We decided we'd better do some research."

-- Dr. Edward L. Petsonk, head of the black lung program for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, on the recent resurgence of the disease, once a scourge among coal miners but virtually eliminated in the 1970s

Make the White House into passivhaus?

Cool idea.