Climate Climate & Energy
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New report finds unconventional liquid fuels will boost CO2
The interwebs are abuzz over a new study from RAND Corp., which finds that unconventional liquid fuels like oils sands and liquid coal would dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions relative to regular oil. In other news, the earth is round. It also found that Canadian tar sands are economically competitive given current (and expected) prices […]
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No cash yet offered to save Ecuador rainforest as deadline looms
In June 2007, Ecuador offered to avoid oil development in a tract of biodiverse rainforest if other nations and green groups were able to pony up $350 million a year for a decade. Reaction to the pay-to-protect idea was positive, but a twice-bumped-back deadline is coming up in Dec. 2008, and still no funding is […]
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Pay-to-protect plan for Ecuadorian rainforest on the brink
This Guardian story was written by reporter Haroon Siddique. Grist is a member of the Guardian’s Environment Network. —– A unique proposal to protect one of the world’s most biodiverse places from oil drilling is facing a looming deadline without any funding in place. The Ecuadorian government has said it is prepared to keep hundreds […]
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Verdant Power shows it’s got the RITE stuff
This is a guest post by my travel partner, Todd Dwyer, head blogger for Dell’s ReGeneration.org. —– Four times a day, without fail, New York City’s East River will change directions. It’s been doing that for ages and will continue to do so long after we are gone. The tides are a constant, […]
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Environmental problems to displace millions, experts say
By 2050, some 200 million people will be displaced by environmental problems, including climate change, experts warned at this week’s Environment, Forced Migration, and Social Vulnerability conference in Germany. “All indicators show that we are dealing with a major emerging global problem,” said Janos Bogardi of the Institute on the Environment and Human Security. “The […]
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Bogus offsets merely ease emitter’s remorse
I’m going to (try to) coin a new term here, “rip-offsets,” since I can’t think of a better word for the rip-off offsets the Chicago Climate Exchange is peddling to a gullible public and media. The Washington Post has a front-page story, “There’s a Gold Mine In Environmental Guilt Carbon-Offset Sales Brisk Despite Financial Crisis,” […]
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Various and sundry smart people debunk the ‘clean coal’ nonsense
Lots of great stuff on The Enemy of the Human Race available today. Kate mentioned CNN’s segment on Coal River Mountain, where a crucial battle over mountaintop removal mining is playing out. Really a must-watch. Also on CNN, an excellent commentary from Jeff Biggers, making the point that Appalachians themselves have made peace with the […]
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Is 450 ppm (or less) politically possible? Part 7
No, 450 is not politically possible today. Nor is 550. Nor is action sufficient to stave off 1,000 ppm and 6°C warming. OK, that was clear before because congressional conservatives can certainly block the necessary action and demagogue the energy price issue — and they obviously intend to. But I think the financial bailout bill […]
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A summary of the role of energy efficiency in last night’s debate
Squat. UPDATE: Okay, to be completely fair, in response to the question about how the candidates would ask Americans to sacrifice, Obama said this: But each and every one of us can start thinking about how can we save energy in our homes, in our buildings. And one of the things I want to do […]
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My worries about PHVs have mostly abated
In my post last fall on Rob Lowe’s plug-in hybrid, I argued that in the absence of a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, switching to plug-in hybrids might actually be worse for the climate than just switching to regular hybrids. I no longer believe that. Electric vehicles are winners for the climate in the Northwest. […]
