I have the pleasure of teaching at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU, in both the graduate and Continuing Education programs. Every month, the MS in Global Affairs folks have a discussion (followed by a lunch) and this past Friday the topic was “New Directions in News Reporting.” Veteran reporter and professor of journalism, […]
As you might imagine, I subscribe to a number of feeds on climate, energy and sustainability. Here are a few that I highly recommend to you. Nature Reports Climate Change, from the Nature Publishing Group, is an excellent resource on climate science and related matters. Its companion blog, Climate Feedback, has timely and compelling coverage […]
I would be remiss in not pointing you to a blockbuster paper by Amory Lovins from September that I’ve only just now read. I scanned his article in Grist at the time in which he thoroughly debunks Stewart Brand’s support for nuclear power. Here are the four myths he shatters: variable renewable sources of electricity […]
John Kerry gave a speech this past week in which he said that he is “on a short track” to introducing climate and energy legislation that can be passed. Kerry said he’d been working with key administration officials and Senators to create a package. In a Reuters article on this, Carol Browner is quoted as […]
I wrote last month about The Reaction to EPA’s proposed regulations on greenhouse gases. The virus of fear is spreading. People who should know better, in my opinion, namely eight Democratic Senators from coal, oil and industrial states, wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson warning her, for all intents and purposes, to back off. Coal-State […]
The Department of Energy has announced substantive backing in the form of loan guarantees for an exciting concentrated solar power (CSP) project in California. The plant will generate 400 MW of electricity using the same “power tower” approach I saw when we were on vacation in Spain this past August. For backing this project, I […]
Here’s a not-unexciting little story, courtesy of the good people at Green Energy Reporter, on a potential breakthrough in distributed generation. The Bloom Box is a super fuel cell. It’s super because it’s so small, so efficient and, if they get the price down, can penetrate markets just about anywhere. Google and eBay are satisfied […]
With abject apologies to the Bard, this is just a note on the potentially enormous question of how much do we want to get at the vast amounts of shale gas available, worldwide, and what price is there to be paid. I’ve written about the implications for greenhouse gas reductions in exploiting the enormous reserves […]
Just a quick note: A former student of mine jumped in the other day with some comment about the recent nuclear power announcement from the White House. Here is her take and my response. For a stunningly strong and incisive analysis, go to Kate Sheppard’s article yesterday at “Mother Jones.” One of the several eye-opening […]
I’ve been trying to stay out of the thick of the vastly media-inflated controversy over the science. There are folks, in any event, who are much better grounded in the complexities of the arguments than I am. These include the very good minds at RealClimate, Skeptical Science, Stoat and Climate Feedback, among others. I have […]
I’ve been looking at energy and environmental policy for many years and I’m usually happily surprised when things take a smart turn. Even thoughtful, progressive policymakers like Barack Obama, though, wind up making bone-headed calls. Obama offers nuclear plant loan guarantee, as the FT reports, is one good example. I’m, to put it politely, less-than-sanguine […]
There was, of course, a lot of coverage from me, and much of the rest of the world it seems, on the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) in Copenhagen in December – before, during and since. One of the critical agreements to come out of the conference was on finance. Pledges were made by […]
I’ve written about the environmental devastation inherent in the development of Canada’s tar sands a few times, so here’s a quick update: ForestEthics is effecting change in getting some big companies to tell their fuel suppliers they don’t want gasoline that uses tar sands oil. Whole Foods and Bed Bath & Beyond are on board. […]
The Obama Administration has announced the creation of a new national service to study and report on climate change. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, already deeply involved in climate science and reporting, will be the parent agency. In this article, CBS News quotes NOAA’s head, Dr. Jane Lubchenco: “More and more people are asking […]
Sorry if I seem to be (relatively) blithely indifferent to the many and varied blows that climate change legislation, international agreement and even climate science appear to have been sustaining over the past several months, but I remain quite hopeful that legislation and diplomacy will continue to advance and, even more so, that clean tech […]