Climate Politics
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Behavior change causes changes in beliefs, not vice versa
An enormous amount of attention has focused on public belief in climate change -- polls, surveys, studies, punditry, and endless elite hand-wringing. The often unstated assumption hiding behind the discussion is that getting people to say they believe in climate change is the top priority for everyone who wants progress on this issue. But maybe changing behavior comes first.
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Greenhouse gas pledges aren't enough to stop global warming
Even if all the countries that pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions live up to their commitments, it's still not enough to control global warming. Plus, Satan and climate change deniers.
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Why does the American public suddenly believe in climate change less?
In the U.S., belief in human-caused climate change has dropped off considerably since 2008 or so. People have come up with some pretty baroque theories around this, but the explanation seems simple enough: the economy has been in the tank and partisanship has been on the rise.
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Is birth control in our water destroying the environment?
Blaming birth control for estrogen in water is a distraction from the egregious use of synthetic estrogens by chemical companies and factory farms.
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Attention, cap-and-trade fans: the carbon-tax people are not going away
This past weekend, about 500 people gathered at Wesleyan College in Middletown, Conn., for the Pricing Carbon Conference.
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Defining success for climate negotiations in Cancun
The key challenge of the Cancun climate talks is to continue the process of constructing a sound foundation for meaningful, long-term global action.
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Food-safety bill stalled; Stabenow named Senate ag chair
The world's greatest deliberative body didn't manage to vote on the food safety bill before their Thanksgiving recess.
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Carbon-pricing and technology R&D initiatives: Both are necessary, but neither is sufficient
Economists and other policy analysts have noted that policies intended to foster climate-friendly technology research and development will also be necessary, but likewise will not be sufficient on their own.
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Sorry, McWilliams, the New York Times got the USDA cheese story right
The counterattacks on Michael Moss's exposé of the USDA's hypocritical efforts to get Americans to consume more high-fat dairy are wrongheaded. Milk and pork "checkoffs" do indeed represent the federal government at work.
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House Republicans battle over committees, reinforce orthodoxy
The internecine warfare among House Republicans is a remarkable illustration of party discipline -- and how only one side knows how to do it.
