It appears that there’s going to be a tremendous amount of activity coming out of Copenhagen – as we’ve known for a long time – but no final agreement. In a dramatic move, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Danish Prime Minister, flew to Singapore to meet with key leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings. […]
The World Bank is sponsoring this global competition to find the best “100 Ideas to Save the Planet.” The 100 ideas on display now at the World Bank headquarters in Washington were chosen from among 1,755 proposals. From Argentina to Vanuatu, there are some wonderful ideas: bioculture to enhance the value of maize in Mexico; […]
There’s been a lot of hoopla recently about the question of whether or not Barack Obama will go to Copenhagen. He settled that yesterday by saying that he would go if he’s needed to finalize an agreement. This story from Reuters quotes the President: “If I am confident that all of the countries involved are […]
Vice President Al Gore, Nobel Peace Laureate, venture capitalist, author, lecturer, Academy Award winner, activist, the man Denialists love to hate, and the man some others canonize as the path-breaking visionary on the threat of global climate change, has a new book out: Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. It has a […]
As I noted yesterday, I’ll be visiting the subject of the intersection of animal agriculture and climate change more often here. For now, I want to note two recent items, one a “NY Times” op-ed, the other a book review in the “New Yorker.” (Yes, I live in New York City.) The former, an op-ed […]
Not everybody would have caught the headline, but when you’re as tuned into Climate Change as I am – and many of you are – then Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet is going to grab your attention. Who is Lord Nicholas Stern? He is a world-class economist and leader […]
Whether you subscribe to the idea that we need to return to 350 ppm of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere or not, last Saturday’s worldwide expressions of concern were wonderful, eye-opening further evidence of how deep and how broad that concern runs.
I wrote a thumbnail sketch the other day of where we are in the US on domestic climate change and energy legislation. Let’s now take a quick look at how things are shaping up only 37 days before Copenhagen. As you know, the world has been building toward the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP […]
I went to an interesting show a few weeks back at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, a division of the Smithsonian Institution. Design for a Living World has been mounted with the Nature Conservancy. It’s an in-depth look at how a number of designers are putting sustainable materials to excellent use in products like wool […]
As you know, there has been a tremendous amount of activity on climate change and energy on The Hill over the past year. The House of Representatives got going fast, even before the 111th Congress got underway. A leading progressive, hardball-playing Congressman from Los Angeles, Henry Waxman, assumed the chairmanship of the critical Energy and […]
In the spirit of Step It Up 2007 and Earth Hour, 350.org reports that yesterday’s International Day of Climate Action brought people together in 181 countries, at over 5,200 events, for the “most widespread day of environmental action in the planet’s history.” See a great slide show plus videos and other reports here on this […]
The venerable Matt Wald at the “NY Times” had a revealing story yesterday: Fossil Fuels’ Hidden Cost Is in Billions, Study Says. He cites a study, commissioned by Congress, just out from the National Research Council. Monetizing the value of human life cut short by air pollution – “small soot particles, which cause lung damage; […]
Someone in my class at Pace University in NYC a couple of years ago mentioned that she thought that earthquakes and other similar phenomenon were being influenced by climate change. I pooh-poohed the idea, saying that climate change was responsible for a lot of ills – with more to come – but that it couldn’t […]
Last week I dropped in, along with bloggers in 155 countries across six continents, for Blog Action Day ’09: Climate Change. CNN covered the story and the organizers report that 13,484 blogs reached 18,076,782 readers. A big part of the reason for this effort was to further enlighten folks around the world about this coming […]
I’ve been irremediably optimistic about renewables for some time. Here are just a few more reasons why: Army to Build Out 500 MW of Solar in the Mojave – I recently pointed out where the world’s solar hotspots are. No surprise to find the Mojave is among them. So, as Reuters reports here, the US […]