Foreign Policy Blogs

Climate Change

To Frack or Not to Frack?

To Frack or Not to Frack?

Why Not Frack? is the title of an article in a recent issue of the “NY Review of Books.”  One of the best environmental journalists we’ve got, Bill McKibben, is the author.  McKibben, of course, is more than just a journalist.  He’s a ground-breaking thinker and, in recent years, a very serious and effective activist.  […]

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Why do Eco-Documentaries Matter? The Transatlantic Non-Debate on Climate Change

Why do Eco-Documentaries Matter? The Transatlantic Non-Debate on Climate Change

In this climax of crises, the middle class is not the only one to have considerably suffered; the environment has been the other loser. Social policies and the welfare state have been slashed across Europe and the U.S. in the name of austerity measures and debt crisis. The environment has been increasingly slaughtered in the […]

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On the Denialists

On the Denialists

The distinguished economist William Nordhaus has a succinct and useful piece in the latest issue of the “NY Review of Books” that refutes the now mildly famous letter to the Wall St. Journal from 16 scientists from January.  (I am reminded of the famous quote from Erwin Chargaff about James Watson and Francis Crick:  “That… […]

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Climate and Clean Air Coalition

Climate and Clean Air Coalition

What could prove to be a critical component in the effort to successfully confront the climate crisis was launched today by Hillary Clinton at the State Department in Washington.  Secretary Clinton announced the formation of the “Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants.”  What are these short-lived climate pollutants?  Methane, black carbon […]

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Your Own Facts

Your Own Facts

Leave it to Gary Trudeau to distill something to its basics.  God love him.  As Daniel Patrick Moynihan noted some time back, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”  The science is settled.  And no, my Denialist friends, I am not going to enter into yet-another long hassle.  You can […]

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Here Come the Black Helicopters

Here Come the Black Helicopters

A comment came in recently asking me if I characterized American voters of being fanatics if they voted for and supported those politicians who fight, tooth and nail, against progress on confronting the climate crisis and fostering our transition to clean tech.  I said, “Um, yes.” Here’s an article from today’s NY Times, secular socialist […]

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California Rules

California Rules

How can you not love California if you’re an environmentalist?  I’ve lauded the Golden State a few times here for its forward-thinking, smart, and economically advantageous approach to power, transportation, planning, building and curtailing greenhouse gases.  The federal government has so many times taken California’s lead, most recently in pumping up the Corporate Average Fuel […]

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Great Decisions Series on PBS

Great Decisions Series on PBS

GDTV is back on the air with a series of eight programs that encapsulate the issues rolled out this year for the Foreign Policy Association’s annual Great Decisions discussions.  These discussions take place in the many and far-flung FPA groups and also in classrooms across the country.  There is a bonus TV program in the […]

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NOXL? Yes!

NOXL?  Yes!

So, the environmental movement drew the proverbial line in the sand:  no Keystone XL pipeline.  We’ve been fighting the tar sands for years, and will continue, but the Keystone XL has been the first clear solid rallying point and the first time in years that we greens have taken it to the street.  Bill McKibben, […]

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Energy and the Environment

Energy and the Environment

I went to an interesting event last week, the first of a four-part series:  Discourses on Nature and Society.  The discussion by a star panel of energy and environment experts was titled Energy for the Next 20 Years: Protecting the Environment and Meeting Our Demands.  The series is being cosponsored by the venerable NY Academy […]

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Obama Sends More Green Signals

Obama Sends More Green Signals

I’ve written a good number of times here about how I admire what the Obama Administration has achieved in the teeth of vigorous – some might say fanatical – opposition from Republicans on the Hill and elsewhere, as well as from Democrats too, mostly those beholden to the fossil fuel special interests.  (Here are some […]

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Climate and Energy Lists

Climate and Energy Lists

Having done the Year End Review, I’ve been looking a bit at some of the end of year/beginning of year lists lately and thought I’d share some of these.  (Sorry to have been off the air for so long, but I had final papers to evaluate, had shopping to do, letters to write, helped out […]

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Reinventing Fire

Reinventing Fire

The final paper assignment for my class on energy and the environment at NYU’s MS in Global Affairs program this semester was to “…provide for all the energy needs of the world in the year 2050.”  I said “In the next 40 years, we will need to transition to safe, secure, affordable, clean and abundant […]

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An “Agreed Outcome with Legal Force”

An “Agreed Outcome with Legal Force”

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 […]

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Climate, Energy and Sustainability in 2011 – Year in Review

Climate, Energy and Sustainability in 2011 – Year in Review

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 […]

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