Climate Change

Yet another major emerging economy is planning to come to the table in Copenhagen ready to contribute.  Mexico aims to bring CO2 cut plan to climate talks reports Reuters.  Adrian Fernandez, the president of the National Ecology Institute, said “If Mexico can bring a plan for cuts through 2020 to the table with a detailed […]

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, India is a critical part of the equation in solving the climate crisis, but is extremely sensitive to suggestions that it needs to quantify emission reduction targets.  The Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, has been keeping to a very hard line.  “Treehugger” reports here that India Says Yes […]

United States and China to Cooperate on Climate Change and Energy is the word from the excellent weekly, “EERE Network News,” put out by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).  As I noted recently here, DOE Secretary Steven Chu was in China recently and the pressure is building on the Chinese to […]

A recent article in the “LA Times” about the projected boom in hydropower caught my eye this morning because one of my students asked last night about the growth of hydro in the US.  I told her that it was my perception that hydroelectric use was not growing.  That has certainly been the trend in […]

I had the good fortune to be involved with some very smart activists back in the 1980s who were working on acid rain.  One of these was the Environmental Defense Fund’s senior scientist Michael Oppenheimer.  Michael’s been at Princeton for a number of years and among his many projects, he co-curated the compelling climate change […]

I’ve written about the revolution in low-tech.  “Teach us delight in simple things …” are words, in my opinion, by which to live.  I wrote about a different view of freedom in which the idea of using less energy and consuming fewer resources might actually be construed as liberating.  I’ve quoted Bill McKibben in my […]

India is under pressure to come forward with more assertive action indicating it is going to take part in a mandatory regime of greenhouse gas reductions.  It has, unfortunately, been saying much the opposite:  that it will not sign up to quantifiable emission reductions.  (See last post below.)  China and India have been marching, if […]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is off to India to talk of many things, not the least of which is climate change.  In a session at the Council on Foreign Relations earlier in the week, she said “We know that India and China have understandable questions about what role they should be expected to play […]

Desertec Takes Another Giant Leap – I’ve written a few times about this project, bursting with promise to provide clean energy, build bridges and make the desert bloom, most recently here.  The “FT” said today that Desertec has been embraced by several major European financial, utility and industrial concerns.   “A dozen companies are today set […]

Senatus Populusque Romanus – The Senate and the People of Rome.  The old Roman Senate was, on paper, representative of the people.  Because the US is a representative democracy, the US Senate was meant, up to a certain point, to perpetuate this same principle.  It was, however, certainly less representative, from Day One, than its […]

The Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) issued a declaration today after its leaders met in Italy.  There were no big surprises, as I predicted yesterday.  (See last post below.)  However, there was some potentially useful language regarding the role of the developing economies.  “Developing countries among us will promptly undertake actions whose […]

There’s some good news from Italy, and some bad news.  I reported on the G-8 summit from a couple of years ago here.  Then, President Bush (who?) derailed any substantive agreement.  Now, although the G-8 itself seems fully loaded to attack climate change, the leading developing nations involved in the Major Economies Forum on Energy […]