Climate Climate & Energy
All Stories
-
Recession is the time to build a low-carbon future
Sir Nicholas Stern, author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, has a good article in the U.K.’s Guardian, “Green routes to growth.” The former chief economist with the World Bank offers up “two crucial lessons we must learn from the financial turbulence the world has been facing”: First, this crisis has […]
-
More on the media’s quest to manufacture a clean-energy backlash
A huge "amen!" to Joe’s post on the mainstream media’s desperate quest to find a backlash against green energy in the wake of the economic downturn. Read it if you haven’t. A while back, a reporter from … er, a reasonably prominent public radio show to remain unnamed gave me a call to see if […]
-
Oil refineries are full of asbestos, not just carbon
I received this article about the connection between mesothelioma cancer and oil refineries via email along with a request to share it. As we continue to rely on oil, some will face worse consequences than losing their shirts. The original article is posted below: If you’ve been following the widespread coverage related to the upcoming […]
-
Khosla’s letter to Science backfires
Vinod Khosla has a letter in the Oct. 17 issue of Science ($ub. req’d) critiquing the Searchinger et al study: “U.S. croplands for biofuels increases greenhouse gases through emissions from land-use change.” Question: Why would the editors at Science publish a letter from someone who is not a biologist or a peer of the researchers […]
-
Population growth and climate: The E.U.-15 vs. the U.S.
The relative population trends of the E.U.-15 and the United States seem to be a source of some confusion, if comments to my recent post on the European Union’s effort to meet its Kyoto targets are any indication. One commenter writes “EU population is flat/declining. US population is growing.” Even our friend Roger Pielke, Jr. […]
-
Feds boost geothermal energy development
Here’s some steamy action: The Department of Interior on Wednesday announced plans to open 97 million acres of public land in 12 states to geothermal energy development. The plan could more than quadruple the U.S.’s current output of underground-heat power, potentially generating enough electricity to power 5.5 million homes by 2015 and 12 million by […]
-
A talk that’s tougher than ‘the birds and the bees’
Here’s a gem from Sandra Steingraber, "The Big Talk," on how to talk to kids about climate change (or "how to tell a six-year-old where all the birds and bees have gone"). She discusses this tricky topic in greater depth with Orion magazine editor Hal Clifford in this audio interview. This is essential listening for […]
-
My review of Tom Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded
I just noticed that my review of Tom Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded (along with two other books, from EDF’s Fred Krupp and RAN’s Mike Brune) is now available online in full, should anyone still be interested.
-
Four member states and E.U.-15 on track to meet Kyoto goals
On Saturday, I reported that 15 E.U. countries were on track to meet Kyoto targets, but some readers — including Roger Pielke, Jr. (!) — were skeptical. Now the European Environment Agency has released a lot of the underlying data, “Greenhouse gas emission trends and projections in Europe 2008.” Figure ES-1 (click to enlarge) tells […]
-
ACEEE was doing state-level efficiency studies before state-level efficiency studies were cool
Everyone’s buzzing about the new study out of UC-Berkeley showing that California’s energy-efficiency measures have created 1.5 million jobs and saved residents $56 billion in energy costs since 1972. (See Joe Romm’s breakdown, or Brad’s.) Turns out efficiency works! While it’s on everyone’s mind, I’d also direct your attention to "More Jobs and Greater Total […]
