Climate Climate & Energy

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, […]

Search Engine Engine Search

Google pledges $10 million for plug-in hybrid research Google has gone all googly-eyed over plug-in hybrid vehicles, pledging more than $10 million in funding for the nascent technology. At a sunny photo op at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters yesterday, company officials showed off a handful of Toyota Prius and Ford Escape cars that had […]

Irony Of Iron Ease

U.S. EPA challenges California company’s plankton-seeding plan A California company’s plan to fight climate change by seeding the ocean with iron dust is drawing fire from the U.S. EPA, which reportedly woke from a nap with the vague feeling that it ought to be doing something regulatory. The company, Planktos, will use the iron to […]

Scarce Fell On Alabama

Crops, neighborly relations suffer in Southeastern U.S. drought A severe drought is gripping most of the Southeastern U.S., threatening crops, inspiring prayer, and turning neighbors against each other. “It’s one of the worst droughts in living memory in the Southeast at this point,” said Doug LeComte, a drought specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]

Worst music video ever

Oh. My. God. Question: is this better or worse than “Bush Was Right”? (via Hugg)