climate change adaptation

Will it be adaptation, mitigation … or neither?

Despite a lot of talk, this nation has done little to restrain global warming, either in terms of mitigating carbon emissions or adapting to the climate changes that will come.

Some nations around the world -- wealthy nations such as Australia and the Netherlands -- are beginning to adapt, while poorer nations -- such as Malawi and India -- can't afford to.

In a superb piece of reporting last month in The New York Times, four writers reported on "the climate divide," elegantly laying out the issue. Andrew Revkin followed up this week with a look at an ensuing dispute over what to do about it -- a debate between rich and poor nations at the U.N. Revkin quietly watches the delegates debate over cheesecake with raspberry sauce. It's an emblematic image, and a must read.

So keep it up

Think about this article -- descriptively titled "Legislature flooded with bills about climate crisis; poll driven politicians see need to tackle global warming" -- the next time you get an email asking you to call or email your representative on an environmental issue. You keep it up long enough and they get it:

Rich countries aren’t helping poor countries prepare

This article in the NYT should give reason for pause. The rich countries are preparing themselves to adapt to climate change, and doing very little to help the poor nations, which are the most vulnerable. I think environmentalists should take this issue very seriously since completely preventing climate change is unlikely to happen.

Join me for some navel gazing!

There is sometimes a fine line between opposing something and not supporting it; between believing that something should be advocated against and believing it should not be advocated for; between believing that something is bad and believing that there are several better options. Two examples come to mind. One is adaptation, as opposed to mitigation, […]

All but one of the R’s voted against it

Pelosi has announced the membership of her new global warming committee. Here are the Democrats, appointed by Pelosi: Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Chairman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon Jay Inslee of Washington John Larson of Connecticut Hilda Solis of California Stephanie Herseth of South Dakota Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri John Hall of New York Jerry McNerney […]

Vote passes easily

Today the House of Representatives voted to create the much-discussed committee on global warming: The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday passed a rule to create a committee that will focus on climate change. On a vote of 228-195, the House approved creation of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. House Speaker Nancy […]

A new essay from the man

Tom Engelhardt of the indispensable Tom’s Dispatch received permission from the editors of the New York Review of Books to reprint an essay by Bill McKibben that appears in the current issue. He passed that permission along to me. Thanks to Tom, the editors at NYRB, and of course Bill for his tireless advocacy. —– […]

Gore to testify to Congress

Here’s a handy political rule of thumb: don’t front on John Dingell. In recent weeks, House Speaker Pelosi moved to create a special committee on global warming chaired by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). It won’t have subpoena powers, but it will call hearings. It was a shot across Dingell’s bow, letting him know he better […]

The heat is still on

Perhaps the most rewarding moment I witnessed at Sundance last week, after watching several post-screening Q&A’s with Everything’s Cool directors and stars, came on my last night in Utah. They’d just finished the film’s only screening in Salt Lake City, and the packed house had nearly all stayed for the rap session, armed with questions […]