Climate Climate & Energy
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Deniers are just one off from the truth
I give a lot of talks on climate change and what we should do about it. Invariably, at the end, some smug white haired guy in his sixties raises his hand and says something like this: “I’m a smart guy (Phd, engineer, whatever—he lays out the credentials) and I’m a critical thinker. (of course!) and […]
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Obama’s first 100 days of coal
“If you’re going to lead my country,If you’re gonna say it’s freeI’m gonna needa little honestyJust a few honest words” — Ben Sollee, “A Few Honest Words” With those proverbial first 100 days coming to a close, here are ten moments–some good, some confusing, some hair-raising–in the short swift time of coal in the Obama […]
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Tidbits from the first day of the Energy Efficiency Global Forum
The problem with conferences like this is that interesting tidbits — factoids and insights — come flying at you continuously. An Official Journalist is supposed to weave these tidbits into a narrative story, but in my experiences those stories tend to be fairly boring — the only reason to read them is to pull out […]
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Protecting Consumers Under a Carbon Cap
Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee next week will begin debating one of the most critical pieces of the Waxman-Markey climate bill: how the government will distribute the emissions permits, and the corresponding “allowance value,” under a cap and trade program for greenhouse gases. The formula Congress arrives at will be key to […]
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Me, at the EE Global Forum
As we speak, I am à Paris, attending EE Global (aka the Energy Efficiency Global Forum & Exposition), organized by the Alliance to Save Energy, self-billed as the first international conference entirely devoted to energy efficiency (well, second — the first EEGFE took place in D.C. in 2007). As my devoted readers will no doubt […]
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60 Minutes on coal: Dancing around the question
60 Minutes had a long segment on the problem of coal this weekend. Watch: A couple thoughts on this. First, it’s worth stepping back and noting how far the discussion has come. The coal industry probably views this segment as disastrous — it takes for granted that climate change is happening and that coal is […]
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An interview with ‘Green Nobel’ winner Maria Gunnoe
Mountaintop, removed. Near Rawl, West Virginia.Courtesy of ILoveMountains.orgMaria Gunnoe.Tom DusenberyWest Virginian Maria Gunnoe won a prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize this week for her work fighting the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining. It’s hard to think of someone more deserving of the prize, which includes a $150,000 award. Gunnoe, 40, has seen her family’s ancestral […]
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Industry spin on climate is still working on media
Andrew Revkin New York Times reporter Andy Revkin has a blockbuster story showing that the Global Climate Coalition, the main industry group that spent much of the 1990s seeking to sow doubt in journalists’ and politicians’ minds about the reality of climate change, knew all along that it was real and dangerous: “The role of […]
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From Washers to Wind: Obama in Iowa
Yesterday was the 39th anniversary of Earth Day, and to mark the occasion President Obama was in Newton, Iowa, to speak about clean energy. Newton is one of those towns where most of the residents are employed by one major employer, and until October 2007, that employer was Maytag. So when Whirlpool bought Maytag and […]
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Corn ethanol approaches a moment of truth
Courtesy Randy Wick via Flickr [UPDATED 4/24] As expected, California’s Air Resources Board passed the LCFS with the indirect land use component intact. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the actual model to be used in the calculation (including to what extent gasoline will incur an indirect land use penalty) won’t be […]
