Foreign Policy Blogs

Quick Hitters , October '08 Edition

These are some juicy items I've been saving up.  They probably should be savored by you and me more fully, "But at my back, I always hear, time's winged chariot hurrying near."

PV Paint , This is very beautiful, as an old rugby clubmate of mine might've said:  Solar Paint on Steel Could Generate Renewable Energy Soon from the excellent RenewableEnergyWorld.com. 

Bad News on Emissions , Here's a depressing but not overly surprising story from the AP:  Global warming pollution increases 3 percent.  One positive outcome of the world recession into which we're heading , or into which we've already headed , may be the slowing down of our GHG emissions.  It's certainly not how we want this to happen.  Let's just hope that we can keep moving forward, if more slowly economically, and continue to transition to a low or zero-carbon world.

Nukes &  Renewables
This item from the "Palm Beach Post" says that the Florida PSC staff has recommended against including nuclear power in the state's portfolio of renewables.  This has national implications.

Coal Plants Diminished Role? , Here's an eyecatcher from "USA Today" that also has national implications:  Utilities shrink the role of coal on global-warming worries.  I wrote about some of the hits that old King Coal's been taking at Coal Takes Some Lumps back in February.  These are new, very interesting developments being reported.

The Physical Science Basis , Here's an excellent update on the science of global warming from the venerable "Scientific American."  If you've not been following every development , who can? , this is a great place to dig in.  See also the IPCC's definitive Working Group I report from 2007.

 

Author

Bill Hewitt

Bill Hewitt has been an environmental activist and professional for nearly 25 years. He was deeply involved in the battle to curtail acid rain, and was also a Sierra Club leader in New York City. He spent 11 years in public affairs for the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, and worked on environmental issues for two NYC mayoral campaigns and a presidential campaign. He is a writer and editor and is the principal of Hewitt Communications. He has an M.S. in international affairs, has taught political science at Pace University, and has graduate and continuing education classes on climate change, sustainability, and energy and the environment at The Center for Global Affairs at NYU. His book, "A Newer World - Politics, Money, Technology, and What’s Really Being Done to Solve the Climate Crisis," will be out from the University Press of New England in December.



Areas of Focus:
the policy, politics, science and economics of environmental protection, sustainability, energy and climate change

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