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  • The earth’s decade

    Generations from now, long after the last Twitter follower has unfriended the last Facebook user, this decade will be remembered and felt for its impact on Nature: the species that were saved and those that were lost; the heating of the planet; the forests cut down and those that remain to provide oxygen to our […]

  • A conversation with Indian youth activist Ruchi Jain

    Ruchi Jain, 23, was working as a marketer in Mumbai, India, when she left her job to become a full-time climate activist. Today she works with the Indian Youth Climate Network and 350.org, and she traveled to Copenhagen in December to participate in the climate talks. I followed Jain during the two-week conference as she […]

  • The Copenhagen Accord: A Big Step Forward

    The Copenhagen climate deal that President Obama hammered out Friday night with the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa broke through years of negotiating gridlock to achieve three critical goals.  First, it provides for real cuts in heat-trapping carbon pollution by all of the world’s big emitters.  Second, it establishes a transparent framework […]

  • Christmas and Copenhagen

    The huge—and hugely disappointing, as far as the official results—Copenhagen world climate conference has just concluded. Since the worldwide celebrations of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth are coming up later this week, I thought I would study the words of Jesus in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to see if any of what he said there was of relevance to what just happened in Copenhagen.

  • The Copenhagen Accord

    The Conference of Parties formally took note of the Copenhagen Accord this morning after an emotional all night debate, during which many countries expressed deep disappointment with the outcome, but a determination to use it as a stepping stone to more rigorous action. This procedure allowed the Accord to be formally acknowledged by consensus, despite […]

  • Price of coal surges!

    The price of coal surged this morning as a new buyer entered the market.  A high-volume rush order came in from the North Pole in the last few hours, accounting for the surge.  Shaking his head, one dazed trader said the size of the order was equivalent to the yearly total of a medium-size country […]

  • Chicken or Egg – – Health Care or Climate Change?

    President Obama, who will personally participate in the Copenhagen climate talks this week, said last Sunday that he expects to get a health care bill on his desk before Christmas. The barriers to meeting that deadline may revolve around the answer to an age-old question: which comes first – – the health care chicken or […]

  • Protecting the rainforests: Are we there yet?

    COPENHAGEN — Many of us who are here reading the text drafts, talking to ministers and following the negotiations were a bit surprised to read in the New York Times yesterday that we’re about to close a deal on REDD. Vaka0627 via FlickrIt’s true, negotiations have progressed, and balanced-but-far-from-completely-resolved text moved early this morning from […]

  • Youth leaders make an impact in Copenhagen

    COPENHAGEN — Students, youth environmental advocates and other “YOUNGO” interests are busy here this week, pressing world leaders and delegates to reach a real deal to protect their future against climate change. “YOUNGO” activists in Copenhagen.IYCN Pictures via FlickrMore than 1,000 young people from over 100 countries are attending the UN Climate Summit to call […]