Climate Climate & Energy
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Critical List: Bean sprouts newest E. coli suspect; the ‘golden age’ of natural gas
German authorities are now accusing bean sprouts of causing the E. coli outbreak in Europe, but don't have inarguable proof, yet. Vegetables, unlike humans, are guilty until proven innocent, it seems. Climate delegates begin meeting today in Bonn, in the run-up to the Durbin round of climate talks. They've got a lot to hash over, […]
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How last year’s record emissions stack up to the worst-case scenario
Here's a little visual representation, from Climate Crocks, of how 2010's record carbon emissions stack up to various predicted scenarios. Hey, whaddya know … after a brief drop because of the recession, we're right back on track for the worst-case scenario! (And possibly set to blow right past it if we continue on this trajectory.)
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Bill Clinton: Go for the low-hanging fruit
Bill Clinton urged mayors at the Large Cities Climate Summit to go after a pollutant 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide: methane. By capturing it from landfills, from which it leaches in prodigious amounts, cities could use it to generate power. Wrestling CO2 could take years, but harnessing methane could make a big difference […]
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Why Republicans are fighting Obama’s commerce pick
President Obama nominated long-time successful energy executive John Bryson to be secretary of commerce yesterday, in a move representative Darrell Issa calls "deeply out of touch with our current energy challenge." Wait, what? See, before Bryson was the president of the California Public Utilities Commission, or the CEO of Edison International, or the director of […]
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Chris Christie takes a helicopter to a baseball game
I was going to put a joke in the headline, but is it really necessary? I mean, here are the facts without jokes: Chris Christie, the transit-killing, mall-building, climate-initiative-withdrawing governor of New Jersey, hopped on a state helicopter to go to his kid's baseball game — and once he alit, a private car took him […]
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Critical List: More Midwest deaths after storms; White House, NASCAR go green
More deaths in the Midwest after storms hit Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Some areas of Texas have received less than one-fifth the normal amount of rain in the last six months. The drought has cost $1.5 billion so far. But these catastrophes are totally unrelated, right? Bill McKibben takes his sarcastic stick to anyone who'll […]
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Critical List: Scientists’ report pushes emissions policy, Greenlanders warm to climate change
A government report that Congress ordered back when most members believed in climate change recommends creating some — any — sort of policy to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. Newt Gingrich needs to admit his support for climate change solutions was "a brain fart," Republicans say. Democrats just wish he'd return to the '90s, where he belongs. […]
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Critical List: Teens throw a tantrum, Prince Charles puts his dukes up
Teenagers are suing the federal government for failing to protect the atmosphere. One plaintiff explains why. A recovery team went inside the Fukushima No. 1 reactor for the first time since the quake. The United Nation's climate change panel issued a preliminary report that says 12.9 percent of global energy came from renewables. Firewood in […]
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China could start reducing energy use in the next 15 years
Just as U.S. emissions are sneaking back up to 2005 levels, greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage in China could be on their way back down, says a new study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. This analysis shows Chinese emissions peaking between 2025 and 2030, and energy use starting to drop as early as […]
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10 non-boring ideas about the environment
Climate alarmism is counterproductive, and rah-rah Earth fandom is boring. But there are still some fresh perspectives out there — some are a little nutty, sure, but they're a change from the standard fare. Alexis Madrigal at the Atlantic has rounded up ten interesting ideas about the environment, so you can try them on for […]
