Climate Climate & Energy

SUV-Loving Public Deems Itself Unpatriotic

Americans think fuel efficiency is patriotic, poll finds According to a new poll released yesterday, fuel efficiency ranks up there with apple pie, baseball, and hating liberals as emblematic of American patriotism. Some 66 percent of Americans believe it’s “patriotic” to purchase a fuel-efficient vehicle, as it would aid the U.S. in kicking its addiction […]

Gotta Run for Shelter, Gotta Run for Shade

Even without new emissions, planet would still see global warming Even if all the factories and power plants and cars on earth were to suddenly stop clogging the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, the atmosphere would still continue to warm over the next 100 years, two new studies in the journal Science suggest. And, says researcher […]

Joevangelism

Evangelical leaders rally to fight global warming Following its adoption of an environmental platform in October, the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group of 51 denominations, has scheduled two meetings in the Washington, D.C., area to focus on global warming. To be attended by influential religious leaders, scientists, politicians, and members of international aid […]

Umbra on Green Tags

Dear Umbra, My power company (Florida Power and Light) sent me a letter asking me to choose its Sunshine Energy program, which, for an additional $9.75 a month, helps support the building of a 150-kilowatt solar facility in Florida. Do you think I should do it? LindaCoral Springs, Fla. Dearest Linda, Yes. And I am […]

Forget about CO2 for a minute already

It's a dirty secret in the blog world that occasionally bloggers will recommend that their readers read something that they themselves have not read. (Gasp.) But not this blog! At least, not any more! Or rather, at least not this time!

Yesterday I was going to recommend "Bringing Society Back into the Climate Debate" (PDF), a new paper by Roger Pielke Jr. and Daniel Sarewitz (found via their excellent Prometheus science blog). But then I realized that it's a PDF, it's wonky, it's written in dry academic language, and y'all would never read it. And really, how could I expect you to if I hadn't? So last night, I read it.

My initial reaction: They make an extremely good point. Enviros need to reconsider their monomaniacal focus on cutting CO2 emissions.

Go beneath the fold for a brief summary.

Kids Absorb the Darndest Things

Lower IQs in mercury-exposed children cost U.S. billions, study says The effects of mercury on fetal development are costing the U.S. economy $8.7 billion a year, says a new study. Some 317,000 to 637,000 children born in the U.S. each year have been exposed to unsafe mercury levels in the womb, and many of them […]

Dam

Hydropower a major greenhouse-gas producer, researchers say Although hydroelectric power is often heralded as a green alternative to fossil fuels like coal, scientists now say that in terms of greenhouse-gas production, hydro projects may be just as damning. Ahem. New research reveals that the initial flooding involved in creating hydroelectric dams releases large amounts of […]

Ich Bin Ein Cowboy

U.S., Germany agree on vague climate measures President Bush is on a tour of Europe, seeking ways to repair relationships with traditional allies that don’t involve changing any U.S. position on any subject — and that includes global warming. His stop in Germany yesterday to talk with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was a positive, if strained, […]

Hazed and Confused

Appeals court rejects five-state plan for clean park air A market-based program used by five Western states to control haze in national parks and wilderness areas was rejected by a federal appeals court Friday. Brought to court in a challenge by a coal and utilities industry group, the states’ efforts to cut sulfur-dioxide pollution and […]

Global Warming — It’s Infectious

Environmental change linked to spread of infectious diseases If the catastrophic flooding, drought, and weather-related calamities associated with global warming don’t kill you, exotic infectious diseases might step up to do the job, a new report released by the U.N. suggests. It found that changes to the environment — such as deforestation, urban growth, mining, […]