climate equity
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Poor nations demand stringent emissions deal, unicorns
At the ongoing climate talks in Durban, South Africa, 48 of the world's "Least Developed Countries" demanded that world governments sign an ambitious climate deal. By “ambitious” we mean it commits them to a level of atmospheric greenhouse gases lower than what's currently in the atmosphere. There’s a rider requiring free Pegasuses (Pegasi?) for all […]
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Rough initial thoughts on the Copenhagen Accord
Copenhagen was obviously a failure — at least if you judge it by “the numbers,” the formal emission targets and financial commitments that are needed to support a fair and effective emergency global climate mobilization. If you judge it, that is, by what is necessary. The more pressing question, though, is whether Copenhagen was a […]
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Is the ‘climate debt’ discussion helpful?
I’m intrigued by this notion of “climate debt,” but before I get into it I want to make one thing clear: the transfer of substantial resources from rich to poor countries is necessary for a successful international treaty. It’s necessary for a successful attempt to address global climate change. Nothing below is meant to suggest […]
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Prelude to COP15: Climate justice actions sweep the U.S. before Copenhagen talks
Tuesday in the U.S., climate justice activists turned up the street heat to corporations in the financial and energy sectors most responsible for the climate crisis. Initiated by the Mobilization for Climate Justice and the Climate Pledge of Resistance, the day of action came a week before social movements converge in Copenhagen at the U.N. […]
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Prologue to Copenhagen
As a prologue to the COP 15 in Copenhagen, protesters took to the streets across the country in a national day of climate justice action. From die-ins, to fasts, to streets protests, to locked down acts of civil disobedience, citizens groups called for a halt to new coal-fired plant construction, the abolishment of mountaintop removal […]
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Climate change is a poverty issue
“Where are you from?” I was often asked that question while growing up in Southern Indiana in the 1970s. I didn’t look like anyone else in my white hometown and people had a hard time believing I belonged there. I hated the question, but for them it was a polite way of dealing with their […]
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Cap-and-trade primer goes to Washington (DC)
We all know that the devil’s in the details when it comes to legislation, and the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a.k.a. Waxman-Markey, is no exception. This 900-plus page proposal tackling climate change and clean energy is chock full of such fiendish facets. We at Sightline Institute carefully studied the climate portion of the […]
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Nicholas Stern’s heresy: conceding the West’s climate burden
Nick Stern is a relatively recent recruit to the battle against climate change, but he has rapidly become one of its most formidable champions. A former Chief Economist at the World Bank and top official at the British Treasury, Baron Stern of Brentford (to pay him due deference) is very much an establishment figure, far […]
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Think of the children, or think of your ski trip: Two ways to tell the climate story
Forty-five million people go hungry or undernourished because of droughts and disasters wrought by climate change, according to a recent report by the Global Humanitarian Forum. Climate change leads to 300,000 deaths a year, the organization concludes, a toll that will reach 500,000 by 2030. Many of those who starve will be children. Of course, […]
