Climate Climate & Energy

All Stories

  • The ethics of climate change

    It's probably rude to point to this RealClimate post on a recent meeting at the University of Washington on Ethics and Climate Change, since it mentions me. But it's really Paul Baer, EcoEquity's Research Director, that attended, and who got top billing as the author of the "influential" (and out of press) book Dead Heat.

    The real issue here, as far as we're concerned, is the notion of "developmental equity," which we are trying to develop and defend as a normative and politically salient alternative to "equal per capita emissions rights."

    Anyway, this is worth a quick read. The comments are many, and besides, authors Eric Steig and Gavin Schmidt prove the worth of the philosophical approach by defining an "Easterbrook fallacy."

    I knew there had to be a name for it.

    Tom Athanasiou Climate & Energy

  • Biden recites conventional wisdom on ethanol

    You won’t see it in a more pure form than this: (thanks LL)

    David Roberts Climate & Energy

  • A new report says regulations are needed

    A while back I mentioned a McKinsey Global Institute report showing that efficiency is the fastest, cheapest way to cut global GHG emissions. Now McKinsey’s got a new report out, making a heretical claim: even though homeowners could vastly improve energy efficiency and save tons of money over the long term with current technologies, there […]

    David Roberts Cities

  • Once we blow through the carbon sinks, it’s down the drain for us

    Another sign that the economists' central myth, their creation story in a sense -- that there is a replacement for anything scarce and the replacement appears whenever the price of the depeleting resource gets high enough -- is the most dangerous fantasy in the world:

    Alas, there are no replacement carbon sinks, and we seemed to have filled ours up. Now we learn that, after you're through in the sinks, you head down the drain.

    JMG Climate & Energy

  • A new study with intriguing conclusions

    This is interesting. One of the big dings on a carbon tax has been that it’s regressive — it will hurt the poor (who pay a higher percentage of their income for energy) more than the rich. But according to a new study, it ain’t so: But the new study, based on data from Indonesia, […]

    David Roberts Climate & Energy

  • Get Your Vacuum Cleaner Ready

    Southern Ocean losing ability to soak up carbon dioxide, researchers say If you’re counting on the seas to soak up excess emissions and get us out of this climate mess, you might need a new plan. Scientists say Antarctica’s Southern Ocean, a whopper of a “carbon sink,” is losing its ability to absorb more carbon […]

    Grist staff Climate & Energy

  • Massachusetts is going to blow

    The electrical grid in Massachusetts is getting ready to blow: Documents obtained by the Herald show more than 12,000 transformers from Attleboro to Ayer are operating at above 200 percent capacity, with some as high as 900 percent over design standards. Union officials, who last night reached an agreement in contract talks with National Grid, […]

    David Roberts Climate & Energy

  • New Scientist’s troll-b-gone

    If our How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic guide doesn’t whet your appetite for debunkery, head on over to New Scientist, which has a new series taking on “the 26 most common climate myths and misconceptions.” Some are familiar to devotees of our guide — they predicted global cooling in the ’70s! — but […]

    David Roberts Climate & Energy

  • A123 introduces new battery

    From the Energy Blog:

    A123 Systems today introduced its 32-series NanophosphateTM Lithium Ion cells, specifically designed for Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) use.

    The 32-series cells are designed with abuse-tolerance in mind. A123 Systems Automotive Class cells take advantage of lessons learned from the mass-production of ANR26650M1 cells, used in DeWalt's and Black & Decker's power tool lines, in order to deliver 10+ year and 150,000 mile projected life requirements in engineered automotive battery packs. The cells have shown minimal power degradation and impedance growth after 300,000 cycles. The battery is able to operate at a temperature range of -20 F to 140 F (-29 C to 60 C).

    Personally, if I owned a plug-in hybrid that could go thirty miles on a charge, I would fill my tank about twice a year.

    Biodiversivist Cities

  • Patrick Moore proves to be — gasp — a nuclear shill

    We anti-nuclear folks are frequently accused of closed-mindedness. Like, you know, Chernobyl is so 1980s. Get with the here and now, man.

    So I was interested to see how nuclear shill extraordinaire Patrick Moore would react to the news that the Canadian oil industry is increasingly interested in geothermal power as an alternative to nuclear in the heat-starved tar sands developments. The heat produced by obviously-feasible technology would be a perfect fit, and if those tree-hugging hippies in the oil sector are interested, surely there's something to suggest it, right?

    Nope, not for Moore. It's nuclear or nothing. Talk about closed-minded.

    John McGrath Climate & Energy