My head is spinning from the latest developments in the long-running soap opera of climate and energy legislation in the US Senate. Plus, I am finally reading How Democratic Is the American Constitution? and I’m even more depressed now than when I wrote this post, SPQR. Basically, we can never be a real democracy – you […]
I want to return to a theme expressed here a number of times: Carbon dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas with which we need to concern ourselves. The Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) reiterated this important message yesterday in this press release announcing their “Fast-Action Climate Mitigation Campaign.” What’s the pitch? “The […]
A previous post on this blog discussed a UN appeal for funds to combat the food crisis that continues to cripple Niger. Now the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN’s food agency, says it plans to step up aid to herders and shepherds in Niger and its eastern neighbor, Chad, after both countries […]
I mentioned this movie back in November here and thought it looked as if it were a great flick. I finally saw it last night on PBS and it was better than I thought it was going to be! It is fluent, fluid, funny, poignant, smart, hugely informative, and dead on the money in its […]
To borrow a catchphrase from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, yes, we most certainly can eliminate coal-fired power plants. Knowing what we know, we know that we should, and sooner rather than later. I’ve decried the many harmful impacts of coal mining and burning to public health, communities and the environment here on numerous occasions. See […]
As European countries deal with the fourth day of disruptions and cancellations of flights due to the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Kenya is feeling the effects of the volcano is an unexpected way. Kenya, which exports roses, “…beans, sugar snap peas and other vegetables” to Europe, is finding its exportable crops in danger of […]
A story last week in the Washington Post gave me a jolt: Pentagon objections hold up Oregon wind farm. Two weeks prior to breaking ground on an 845-megawatt, $2 billion project in Oregon, the Department of Defense has blocked construction owing to concerns about radar. Two weeks! The project has been on the drawing boards […]
Among my grandmother’s many expressions, this was one of the better ones. I must’ve taken it very much to heart, as leftovers get eaten in our household and I’m pretty scrupulous about recycling. I’ve written here numerous times about waste management issues, including referencing my modest proposal for managing New York City’s 25,000 tons a […]
Here are some updates on the carbon-intensive Alberta tar sands projects. First, the FT’s “Energy Source” blog reports on recent analysis from Citigroup that says, among other things, “It is not a fuel source that sits naturally within a low carbon economy and is unlikely to be a strategic winner as climate regulation tightens, albeit […]
Oil and gas royalties have been all the news this week. First, the coveted Pulitzer Prize for public service went to a small Virginia paper, the Bristol Herald Courier. It’s the sort of story which reminds us why it is essential that small local newspapers not go the way of the dodo. Its eight-segment series dissected […]
So now it’s four months after the meetings in Copenhagen. I’m in the group who thinks that more was accomplished than meets the eye and that it was an important way station to achieving more international agreement on stemming the tide of greenhouse gases we confront and adapting to the massive impacts they’ve already caused […]
One of my students flagged a recent Dot Earth post to me about an artist and physicist who creates graphics that depict our carbon output. Adam Nieman is the creative director of Carbon Visuals Ltd which “…exists to provide a range of carbon visualisation services to government, companies, NGOs and any organisation that has a ‘carbon […]
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