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Umbra on unused fireplaces
Dear Umbra, We have a gas fireplace and a new baby girl, so we have decided to not use the fireplace this winter. What is the best way to keep the cold air from coming in through the fireplace? JeffRochester, N.Y. Dearest Jeff, First of all, congratulations! There are “hearth gates” one can use to […]
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The hidden costs of coal haven’t exactly been a secret
“But under any external-cost scenario, coal’s price advantage erodes. Natural gas becomes a more cost-efficient generating fuel, since it emits less sulfur. More important, renewable resources like geothermal energy, wind, and solar energy, at five to twelve cents per kilowatt hour, suddenly become competitive, because they carry few or none of the external costs associated […]
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New Mother Jones piece flaunts climate starpower, but lacks practical suggestions
Magazines like to tease their readers with headlines that promise answers to seemingly intractable problems. Such seems to be the intent of the lead story of the December 2008 issue of Mother Jones, entitled “How to rescue the economy and save the planet.” Al Gore, Bill McKibben, and Nobel-laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz hold forth, among […]
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Voices in favor of green stimulus spending
I think it kind of disappeared in the rush late last week, so if you haven’t already, check out this op-ed from Chip and me in the Seattle Times. It seems to be part of a growing chorus calling out for green stimulus spending. Here’s Michael Northrop, director of the Sustainable Development Program at the […]
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Study: Water-vapor feedback is ‘strong and positive,’ so we face ‘warming of several degrees C’
A new study in Geophysical Research Letters ($ub. req’d), “Water-vapor climate feedback inferred from climate fluctuations, 2003-2008” analyzed recent variations in surface temperature and “the response of tropospheric water vapor to these variations.” They concluded that the “water-vapor feedback implied by these observations is strongly positive” and “similar to that simulated by climate models.” The […]
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There are simple ways to reduce cargo ship CO2 emissions right now
The International Maritime Organization’s recent decision to adopt tighter emission rules for the global shipping fleet is a step in the right direction for an industry whose emissions have been practically unregulated. Ship emissions are blamed for 60,000 deaths worldwide each year — a serious public health threat. The new rules, however, only address sulfur […]
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Reliance on coal ain’t cheap, study says
A new study from Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund has found that China’s dependence on coal to fuel its economy cost the country some $248 billion last year in hidden expenses, including health care costs and environmental damage. “Recognizing the true cost of coal would create incentives to developing cleaner, sustainable energy sources,” said […]
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A useful rule of thumb: Lower emissions are better for the environment
In the unlikely circumstance that reporters ever grow weary of chasing twitches in the oil markets or interpreting the wanderings of the Dow, they have a new toy to play with: the price of carbon. Which is fine, so far as it goes, except that they keep getting the story so badly wrong: The global […]
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Climate change making for salty seas, says study
Climate change is making the Atlantic Ocean more salty, according to research being published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Increased evaporation and reduced rainfall are to blame. Keep an eye out for even saltier sea dogs, me hearties. Yar!
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Sometimes the issue with a particular technology is the technology itself
In arguing for efficiency mandates, Joe Romm notes the failings of carbon pricing as a solution to climate change: That means a price of $400 a metric ton of carbon (whether achieved through a tax or a cap & trade system) would increase the price of gasoline a mere $1 a gallon. How much efficiency […]
