climate change adaptation

Gaia proponent Lovelock says it’s time to adapt to inevitable global heating

James Lovelock speaking at the World Nuclear Association Symposium in 2007Courtesy Jon and Lu via FlickrWhat is it with Preeminent Thinkers and intensely bleak public lectures? Two weeks ago Earth Institute economist Jeffrey Sachs, in an address at the Asia Society in New York, argued that climate change cannot be averted without massive use of […]

Part 3: Draft negotiating text proposed for Copenhagen agreement

I’ve discussed in part 1 — shared vision and developed country emissions reduction commitments — and part 2 — developing country emissions reductions and the incentives to encourage them to go further — key proposals that have now been produced in a new draft negotiating text for the Copenhagen agreement. I’ll now discuss the last […]

A climate-news poem for the week of May 11

Check out last week’s lines. The climate news of this week started rolling fast and hot The papers said a memo showed the White House just was not On board with EPA now putting carbon in its pot. But it was just a spin, one on which you could not bank The sole objection really […]

President of Maldives wants to move his island nation

The New York Times Magazine has a pretty good piece on the Maldives, “Wanted: A New Home for My Country“: … ever since Nasheed declared on the eve of his inauguration last November that, because of global warming, he would try to find a new homeland for Maldivians somewhere else in the world, on higher […]

A climate-news poem for the week of May 4

Don’t miss last week’s dubious bit of doggerel. Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso with Obama earlier this year.White HouseMonday seemed so hopeful, when Aso came out strong: Japan and other powers must act before too long. “Hear, hear!” cried U.S. leaders, “We put it in this draft! To mumblemouth on climate would really be quite […]

Bolivia’s leader pushes rich nations for climate adaptation funds

President Evo Morales of Bolivia never shies away from a scuffle. He was elected as Bolivia’s first indigenous president after toppling the previous government with massive street protests, and he has since legalized the coca leaf, nationalized the mines, and tossed out the U.S. ambassador. Bolivian President Evo Morales makes an offering to the “Pachamama” […]

Running out the climate clock

The “Countdown to Copenhagen” clock was front and center at the Bonn climate talks last month.Courtesy UNFCC I suppose what happened to the ticking clock says all we need to know about the state of the make-or-break international negotiations on combating climate change. The bright red digital timepiece was affixed to the podium for the […]

Top Republican on House energy committee: “when it’s hot we get in the shade”

I don’t think most people appreciate the level of stupidity that people in Congress consume and pass on every day. Witness this, the opening statement of Joe Barton (R-Tx.) at a hearing today on climate adaptation. It begins with the immortal tautology: “Adapting is a common way for people to adapt to their environment.”

Expanding on Barbara Boxer's principles for climate legislation

This post is by Bill Becker, Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, announced earlier this month that she hopes to have a cap-and-trade bill blessed by her committee by the end of the year. Her announcement left room for criticism.

Action advocates wished Boxer had been more specific about goals for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. The Wall Street Journal posted a piece suggesting the Senator's new principles were vague and stale.

Moreover, if we want Uncle Sam to wow the world with new-found religion on climate action and to do so in time for the U.S. to take its seat at Copenhagen in a morally upright position, then a committee vote by year's end will be too little too late. A better goal would be affirmative votes by the House and Senate well before Copenhagen, along with aggressive, progressive energy legislation and continuing bold action by the Obama Administration this spring and summer.

Still, if we want principled action, then principles are a good place to start. Boxer's are as follows: