Climate Climate & Energy

An entire nation of sexy beasts

There is a large amount of literature discussing the "Resource Curse" (sometimes called the Oil Curse, but established before that for silver, gold, etc.), in which countries blessed with an abundance of a desirable resource often turn into kleptocracies ruled by thugs.

Oddly, countries like Japan and Taiwan, with few (if any) local resources, often soar because their cultures build in a premium on efficiency ...

It appears that Sweden -- while not as resource poor as many others, but certainly not as resource rich as most other developed nations -- enjoys the same advantage.

As my adviser used to say as we struggled with our designs, "Uh-oh, out of money -- time to think!"

That you won’t hear in the mainstream media

China has officially passed the U.S. as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. This is likely to prompt a lot of misinformation and obfuscation from the usual quarters. So here are some simple truths about China and global warming that everyone should remember as the debate proceeds. 1. The U.S. still vastly outpaces China […]

Quench Warners

Desalination won’t solve world’s water woes, report says Another high-tech environmental solution may be going out the window: a new report from the World Wildlife Fund says desalinating water could hurt more than it helps. Estimating that there are more than 10,000 desalination plants around the world, WWF says the energy-intensive practice of filtering salt […]

And They’re Off

China overtakes United States as world’s biggest polluter, agency says The United States is no longer the world’s biggest polluter. That honor goes to China, which emitted some 8 percent more carbon dioxide in 2006 than Bushland, according to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. But on a per-person basis, Americans pollute roughly four to five […]

Is anyone listening?

James Hansen has a new paper out, co-authored with six other scientists: "Climate Change and trace gases." It appears in the current issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, and Hansen says: "In my opinion, among our papers this one probably does the best job of making clear that the Earth is getting […]

The precise mathematical formula for despair

The latest Mother Jones (July/August 2007, according to the the weird dating schemes of dinosaur media) has a great last-page feature titled "The New Math of Global Warming" -- short, poetic mathematical expressions on our plight.

I'd link to it but the MoJo site seems to be missing some of its mojo right now ... the link to the slideshow gives you a "not found" error.

But it's probably for sale at a local indie newsstand near you. As Joe Bob would say, "Check it out."

A package of good stories

Rolling Stone has a package of stories on Al Gore’s climate crusade in the current issue. First up is a long interview with the man himself , including this nice tidbit: What figure in the administration, other than the president himself, do you hold most responsible for standing in the way of meaningful change on […]

Arguments supporting government subsidies of agrofuels are getting polished

This is my formal rebuttal to David Morris's "case for corn-based fuel." I'm using my access to the bully pulpit to pull it out of the comments field.

How did the use of ethanol end up alongside tyranny and torture as an evil to be conquered?

That's easy. A whole lot of real smart people have been giving corn ethanol a lot of thought and have found that "an evil to be conquered" isn't a bad description. In smaller quantities, it does smaller amounts of damage, but as quantities increase, so does the damage. I mean, what's not to like about a fuel that milks billions from taxpayers, increases the cost of food all around the world, exacerbates the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, and returns no more energy than it produces?

So says a new report

Everything you could possibly want to know about nuclear power -- and its (limited) potential as a potential climate solution -- can be found in the new Keystone Center Report with the less-than-captivating title "Nuclear Power Joint Fact-Finding."

Reuters is confused in its article on the report, "Nuclear Power Can't Curb Global Warming -- Report," and actually overstates the case for nuclear:

A hearing before the Science Committee

There’s a hearing on solar power today in the House Science Committee. Sounds like they’re focusing on concentrating solar power and thermal storage — smart. Note this: [Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Vice-Chair] Rep. [Gabrielle] Giffords expects to soon introduce "The Solar Energy Research and Advancement Act of 2007" to address issues in solar research, […]