We have made still another breakthrough on greenhouse gases. The EPA and the US Department of Transportation have established new standards for fuel economy and GHG emissions from cars and light trucks. The EPA release includes soundbites that have Lisa Jackson saying “We expect to reduce greenhouse emissions by the equivalent of 42,000,000 cars over […]
Here’s another story like the one below on mountaintop removal mining in which a key environmental regulatory agency steps up to the plate and hits one out of the park. It’s not a walk off, but we’re coming to the bottom of the ninth now and Indian Point is down one run with, I daresay, […]
Here’s a quick little item of good news from Europe, courtesy of the AP and BusinessWeek: “Greenhouse gas emissions from major European polluters fell 11 percent last year as the economic downturn reduced demand for energy and manufactured goods, according to a report released Thursday.” Okay, okay, this is largely a consequence of the economic […]
As you know if you follow the blog at all, mountaintop removal mining is right up there with tar sands extraction at the top of my list of destructive, hateful businesses. Al Gore calls it a “despicable practice” in Our Choice. (This, by the way, is a truly terrific book.) Here is an article from […]
… to know which way the wind blows.”* There’s a pretty compelling story in the Old Gray Lady today: Among Weathercasters, Doubt on Warming. TV weather people, it turns out, seem to be having a hard time with the science of climate change. The article cites a study just out from George Mason University’s Center […]
I’ve written about the environmentally catastrophic, greenhouse gas intensive, and, of course, hugely profitable Alberta tar sands a number of times. We don’t seem to shine as bright a spotlight on this boondoggle here as they do in Europe. There is a new report out from a coalition of investor groups based in Europe, the […]
I was disappointed to not be able to make this important conference this past Thursday. (Too many other balls up in the air.) I went two years ago and found it a most satisfying experience. Here is Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs introducing the event, along with video of the whole conference. Panelists took part […]
Okay, the Obama Administration is gathering up the laurel wreaths for its landmark victory on health care reform. Nancy Pelosi, my all-time personal favorite Speaker of the House, deserves a lioness’s share of the credit as well. Here’s a happy picture at the bill signing today. Nancy looks pretty darn jazzed! But this blog is […]
Today is World Water Day. There are events going on all over the world to mark this year’s theme: Clean Water for a Healthy World. You can find some excellent reading here, and you might want to view this video, Water: The Drop of Life. UNDP notes here that, worldwide, 2.6 billion people lack proper […]
First of all, I have to apologize for not being so much in evidence here over the past couple of weeks. It’s been busy: Last weekend had three – count ’em – three birthday parties, including a big (successful) surprise for my wife with many old friends, followed the next day by a museum extravaganza […]
Here’s a story that I wanted to flag to you quickly. It hearkens back to what I wrote recently about some sublime and ridiculous aspects of offshore wind development. Regarding the sublime, I reported that the United Kingdom’s Crown Estate had leased offshore areas for a series of massive wind power projects. What the Crown […]
I wrote about The Brouhaha Over the Science a month ago, saying, among other things, that the premise, as posited in a particular “NY Times” article, that there are “two sides in the climate-change debate” is way off the mark. There is deep, broad and unequivocal science that has long since ended any reasoned contention […]
Tom Friedman’s latest column, Dreaming the Possible Dream, touches on some companies and their promising technologies that we’ve seen here, namely Calera (cement) and Bloomenergy (fuel cells.) Everybody has seen the hype for Bloomenergy. I sincerely hope they live long and prosper. I quoted Bill McKibben here a while ago in his review of a […]
I don’t write about fossil fuels much here because I consider them, well, to be fossils. The fossil fuel industries are rather large dinosaurs lumbering to their long, drawn-out deaths as the earth continues to get hotter. It’s a scene from “Fantasia.” Unfortunately, so is my vision. Coal, oil and gas are going to be […]