climate
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McKinsey 2008 Research in Review: Stabilizing at 450 ppm has a net cost near zero
The McKinsey Global Institute has done some of the most comprehensive and credible recent analyses on energy efficiency potential and carbon mitigation cost curves (see here). They have summarized their work in “2008 Research in Review,” so this is a good opportunity to create one universal link for their work. One core MGI factoid you […]
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John Tierney is the country’s worst science writer, not Gregg Easterbrook
Science blogger extraordinaire Tim Lambert (aka Deltoid) has called me out. I wrote: Tierney is easily the worst science writer at any major media outlet in the country. Pretty much every energy or climate piece he writes is riddled with errors and far-right ideology, including this one. Lambert writes that he “must, however, disagree with […]
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WALL-E takes top honor and Quantum of Solace disappoints
The best eco-movie of the year is Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E — easily one of the best movie dystopias ever. It ranks with Blade Runner, Brazil, A Clockwork Orange, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, the Matrix, Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, and the first two Terminator movies. Yes, Hollywood loves dystopias. Perhaps because it is one (OK, […]
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Umbra on eco-actions for kids
Dear Umbra, In my city, environmental awareness might as well be some late-night, budget infomercial that nobody thinks about except to laugh at. I’m trying to organize a series of interactive presentations in area schools to educate and engage kids in a more progressive approach to greening up our lives and our city. Many of […]
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Institutions, motivations, and assumptions in economic analysis
A belated Merry Christmas, everyone! Yes, it’s possible that most of Grist’s readers are not Christian (I’m not, for one). But December 25 is the day celebrated as Christmas by much of the world; it’s a declared holiday in many countries and cultures, whether or not we buy into its religious significance. It is, therefore, […]
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Will carbon cap-and-trade be the next Ponzi scheme?
Even as the tsunami of Bernard Madoff’s busted Ponzi scheme was submerging hapless rentiers around the world, another esoteric financial enterprise quietly took a step forward this week. At a couple of hundred million bucks, this new venture is just spare change alongside Bernie’s 50 billion. But in time it could grow to rival Madoff’s […]
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The insurance industry is making strides on climate, but has further to go
After another year full of unpleasant surprises, you’d think the insurance sector would be ratcheting up its response to big risks like climate change. The U.K. industry has about $15 trillion of assets under management, so the potential to play a significant role in getting others to factor in climate change looks substantial. A new […]
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Memo to the president-elect about NASA
Memo To: PEBO From: Andrew Dessler Re: What to do about NASA on your first day in office Two things: Fire Michael Griffin, NASA’s current administrator. He says stupid things about climate change and is going to be an impediment to the change that NASA needs. Put the Earth back in NASA’s mandate. In 2006, […]
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Thinking big on climate offers better ratio of risk to reward than timidity
The cost of keeping climate-chaos temperature rise under two degrees centigrade may be only 2 percent of world GDP, according to a new study by leading international scientists released in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences into preprint on Dec. 22, 2008. But they say that spending much less than this will be […]