Climate Change

There are all sorts of prognoses for what’s going to happen in a couple of weeks at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP15).  Some are calling this the most important international meeting of minds since the Bretton Woods and San Francisco conferences created much of the political architecture for the postwar […]

I’ve been reading Al Gore’s new book, with a view to using it for both my MS and continuing ed classes this spring at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs.  It’s looking pretty good to me as there are excellent up-to-date perspectives on all sorts of important topics, particularly the promise of renewables, energy efficiency, green […]

Several recent posts here have looked at the state of play leading up to the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).   I’ve been generally optimistic about prospects – although the title of my last post may belie that.  There are several reasons why I’m […]

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, has been a leading proponent of strong action against climate change, not only in the 27-nation European Union, but globally.  The EU has been in the vanguard, particularly when the executive branch of the US was for eight years a captive to special interests and a politics […]

It appears that there’s going to be a tremendous amount of activity coming out of Copenhagen – as we’ve known for a long time – but no final agreement.  In a dramatic move, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Danish Prime Minister, flew to Singapore to meet with key leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.  […]

The World Bank is sponsoring this global competition to find the best “100 Ideas to Save the Planet.”  The 100 ideas on display now at the World Bank headquarters in Washington were chosen from among 1,755 proposals.  From Argentina to Vanuatu, there are some wonderful ideas:  bioculture to enhance the value of maize in Mexico; […]

There’s been a lot of hoopla recently about the question of whether or not Barack Obama will go to Copenhagen.  He settled that yesterday by saying that he would go if he’s needed to finalize an agreement.  This story from Reuters quotes the President:  “If I am confident that all of the countries involved are […]

Vice President Al Gore, Nobel Peace Laureate, venture capitalist, author, lecturer, Academy Award winner, activist, the man Denialists love to hate, and the man some others canonize as the path-breaking visionary on the threat of global climate change, has a new book out:  Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.  It has a […]

As I noted yesterday, I’ll be visiting the subject of the intersection of animal agriculture and climate change more often here.  For now, I want to note two recent items, one a “NY Times” op-ed, the other a book review in the “New Yorker.”  (Yes, I live in New York City.) The former, an op-ed […]

Not everybody would have caught the headline, but when you’re as tuned into Climate Change as I am – and many of you are – then Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet is going to grab your attention.  Who is Lord Nicholas Stern?   He is a world-class economist and leader […]

Whether you subscribe to the idea that we need to return to 350 ppm of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere or not, last Saturday’s worldwide expressions of concern were wonderful, eye-opening further evidence of how deep and how broad that concern runs.

I wrote a thumbnail sketch the other day of where we are in the US on domestic climate change and energy legislation.  Let’s now take a quick look at how things are shaping up only 37 days before Copenhagen. As you know, the world has been building toward the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP […]