An agreed outcome with legal force – That’s the major aim of the conferees from the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that wrapped up its work this past weekend in Durban. What that headline phrase signifies, according to a decision of the parties, is that work will […]
With the arrival of December, it’s time to check the rear-view mirror to see where we have been in order to have some clue as to where we are going. In the energy realm, 2011 was the Year of the Three Fs: Fukushima, Fracking and Finance. Japan is used to earthquakes, and the odd tsunami […]
The year is certainly not over yet – the annual international UN climate conference is ongoing in South Africa for the next ten days. Nevertheless, here’s a quick look at what we’ve seen – and what we might expect in 2012. Casting back to my look at 2010 and beyond, I predicted witch hunts from […]
Iraq has agreed to a $17 billion deal covering the next 25 years with Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi to capture the natural gas that is currently being flared off in its southern oil fields. The BBC reports “The new venture will be called Basra Gas Company, with Iraq holding a 51% stake, Royal Dutch […]
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) came into being at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the convention got underway yesterday in Durban, South Africa. There are 194 countries that are party to the convention, plus the European Union. There are also […]
As you undoubtedly know, thousands of people, young and old, descended on Washington on November 6th, ringed the White House and told the President that the Keystone XL pipeline was not in the best interests of either the US or the planet. The fact of the turnout was great news in itself, but even better […]
Older Americans are more food insecure, with dramatic increases in age categories ranging from 40 to 49, 50 to 59 and 60 and older. The AARP Foundation’s August 2011 report, “Food Security Among Older Adults,” measured survey responses from older Americans in these three age categories. Respondents were then grouped as marginally food insecure; food […]
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has produced four comprehensive Assessment Reports since 1990 detailing the science behind climate change, the impacts, ways to mitigate our radical forcing of the climate system, and ways to adapt to the clear, present, and intensifying dangers that this crisis engenders. The IPCC has also produced some extremely […]
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced her intention of lifting her country’s ban on sales of uranium to India. Although this will set up a clash within the Labor and Green coalition, she probably doesn’t have to muster the votes to push this through the Australian Parliament; an executive order may well suffice. Even […]
The Keystone XL Pipeline extension proposed by TransCanada is current in planning limbo after the November 10 decision by the Obama administration not to make a decision on going ahead with or killing it. If and when built, it would bring crude from Alberta, Canada’s oils sands to the Gulf Coast of the US. The […]
As I noted recently, the pressure is building on the Keystone XL pipeline. 350.org and the many brothers and sisters who have been affiliating themselves with their actions to stop the pipeline – and indeed the tar sands development in Alberta – were in Washington in August and exercised their civil disobedience muscles. Hundreds were […]
I went to hear a most interesting talk the other night, centered on how we need to get much smarter, quick, about agriculture and what we eat. Jonathan Foley, the Director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, gave the broad outlines of our dilemma relative to climate change and […]
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