Climate Climate & Energy
All Stories
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If there’s no U.S. climate bill in 2009, would U.N. climate talks collapse in Copenhagen?
I have argued that Obama won’t be able to ratify any global climate treaty that is likely to come out of Copenhagen next December. Since the only thing worse than no global climate treaty in 2009 is a treaty that the President can’t get ratified, Obama, I believe, should be lowering expectations rather than making […]
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Humanity is still bargaining with climate change
I’ve had a thought bouncing around, somewhat inchoate, that I shall now try to render in the language you humans call "English," despite the fuzzy-headedness brought on by Seattle’s relentlessly gray sky. Pardon the rambling. You constantly see stories in the media about things that might derail our still-nascent efforts to avert the worst of […]
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Canadian oil sands projects could kill up to 166 million birds, study says
Canadian oil sands projects are likely to kill up to 166 million birds over the next 50 years through habitat loss, pollution, and other effects, according to a study by a coalition of environmental groups.
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Bizarre gap year in residential conservation tax incentives
I was doing some research in preparation for upgrading my attic insulation, and what do I find? That, in its wisdom, Congress has decided that home weatherization is a good idea that needs incentives for 2006, 2007, and 2009 … but not 2008. That’s right. The feds want you to delay energy-conserving, pollution-reducing, job-creating home […]
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Participate in the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions, Feb. 5
A guest post by Eban Goodstein, Professor of Economics at Lewis & Clark College and project director of the National Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions. —– One thing you can do to stop global warming right now is tell a teacher — a friend, your kid’s teacher, a cousin, or a colleague — about The […]
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Not as threatening as missing bees, but another odd symptom
Even when they are not immediate threats, weird symptoms like this are troubling: WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) — Botanists say they’re puzzled about why oak trees from Virginia to Kansas and north to Nova Scotia failed to produce acorns this year. “It’s a zero year. There’s zero production. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” […]
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Electronics, biomimicry, and design advances improve a mature technology
Solar energy sucks up a lot of research attention, partly because solar energy systems still have so much room for improvement. Wind turbines, on the other hand, have been around for over 1,000 years, and although the modern versions are vastly larger and more efficient than their ancient counterparts, the basic concept hasn’t changed much. […]
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The food price blame game
Tactic No. 1: Create a straw man. Nobody in their right mind can claim that corn ethanol has no impact on corn prices, or that corn prices have no impact on food prices. You can only debate the extent of the corn’s impact. Here’s a conclusion from a study released this year [PDF] that supports […]
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First commercial ship sails through Northwest Passage
CBC News reports: The Canadian Coast Guard has confirmed that in a major first, a commercial ship travelled through the Northwest Passage this fall to deliver supplies to communities in western Nunavut. The MV Camilla Desgagnés, owned by Desgagnés Transarctik Inc., transported cargo from Montreal to the hamlets of Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven and […]
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Fossil CO2 impacts will outlast Stonehenge and nuclear waste
Every few years, people need to be reminded that carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion lasts a long, long, long time. How long? A 2005 study by Geophysicist David Archer, “Fate of fossil fuel CO2 in geologic time,” ($ub. req’d.) concluded that a large fraction of the CO2 emitted by humans […]
