The Climate Post

The Climate Post: Uptick in denialism halts glacier melt, lowers sea levels

First things first: “The absence of an actual bill” is one impediment to the Senate taking up climate legislation, The Hill reported earlier this week. The climate leadership troika of Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) continue to work behind the scenes to steer the many interests toward a common […]

The Climate Post: Melting ice makes slippery slope

First things first: Several high-profile exits from the climate conversation — Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) from the Senate; BP, Caterpillar, and ConocoPhillips, from USCAP; and chief climate negotiator Yvo de Boer from the U.N. — were widely reported this week. None of these stories carry as much long-term significance as the under-reported-on difficulty of many major […]

The Climate Post: Snow is unequivocal

First things first: Attention turned this week to the Mid-Atlantic snowstorms and how to understand (and misunderstand) them, and also to how the climate science community-namely the IPCC-might prevent mistakes in process and print that have harmed its reputation in recent months. Three feet of snow have disabled the capital region. The federal government has […]

The Climate Post: The documents … they are … Alive! Alive!

First things first: With the electorate angry and frustrated, President Obama delivered a State of the Union address last night that articulated his goals for, among other things, modernizing the U.S. energy system and infrastructure, and addressing climate change. The president called for “a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make […]

The Climate Post: Asian ice granted temporary stay of execution

First things first: A new U.S. senator and a blip in the post-Copenhagen U.N. negotiations may cause comprehensive global climate policy to melt away faster than the Himalayas-or will they? Surgeon General’s warning: Many points in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report have been revealed to be wrong as scientists observe global […]

The Climate Post: The only good strategy is a dead strategy

First things first: The White House, senators, businesses, environmental NGOs, lobbying groups, and the international community conspired this week to shred any discernible central narrative in the climate story. While this situation might be easily recognized as a normal state of affairs — coming after the singular focus on Copenhagen, and then the singular focus […]

The Climate Post: Warming apparently takes extra time off for holidays

First things first: Our story left off at the COP-15 negotiations, minutes after world leaders released their three-page Copenhagen Accord [pdf], a broad statement of political intent to address the issues that — according to the (old) U.N. schedule — should have been addressed by now. This result begs the question: Did 2009 end with […]

The Climate Post: Rumors, intimations, and a deal

First Things First: Denmark’s most widely sought-after exports this week, at least until several minutes ago, were intimation and rumor. World leaders have been locked in negotiation on the second floor of the Bella Center, trying to strike a political “Copenhagen Accord,” various drafts of which (confirmed or unconfirmed) have circulated for the past several […]

The Climate Post: Throngs enter Copenhagen’s climate gates

First Things First: President Obama last week shifted the date he will visit the Copenhagen climate talks from Dec. 9 to Dec. 18, the last and most consequential day. Three days into the 15th U.N.-sponsored Conference of Parties, this otherwise mundane fact carries the most symbolism. Whatever happens, whatever has already been settled or is […]