At the 2010 G20 Summit held recently in Toronto, world leaders committed to more funding to address climate change and food security across the globe. Predictably, the global financial crisis has impacted those living in poverty the most, raising food prices above the reach of millions, resulting in an estimated addition of 109 million people […]
Amid all the doom and gloom that the media and some of the major environmental groups promulgated before, during and after Copenhagen last December, some voices pointed out that there were important breakthroughs. One important group, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), noted that “… for the first time, all major economies, including China, India, […]
President Obama announced a major commitment to solar production this morning: loan guarantees to large solar power facilities – a 280 MW concentrated solar power plant (CSP) and two photovoltaic (PV) factories, with a combined output of 840 MW annually. See this fact sheet from the White House. The CSP plant will be built by […]
I noted in my post earlier this week, The British Are Coming, that in spite of a stubborn, wasteful sticking to its guns on nuclear power and CCS, the new coalition government headed by the Conservatives has got an awful lot to recommend it – certainly on paper. Well, David Cameron has lived up to […]
I mentioned my visit to the local British Consulate-General yesterday and some discussions there. I also mentioned the enviable climate and energy politics across the pond in “Oh, to be in England” a while back. The three major parties in the UK have had their differences, but as can be evidenced by the new coalition’s […]
With apologies to Longfellow, not to mention Paul Revere, I want to recount my recent, close encounters with the British here in New York. As I mentioned in passing here, I was invited to a discussion at the Consulate-General to talk about my thoughts regarding the state of play on climate change; what you, gentle […]
Further to my last post below on the Alberta tar sands, here is a hopeful bit of news from Stacy Feldman at the excellent SolveClimate on a hard-hitting letter from Congress to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 50 members of the House, no doubt all with very high LCV ratings, warned the Secretary of the […]
When policymakers think about agriculture in Afghanistan, they tend to think in terms of what is grown (opium, with Afghanistan being, by far the world’s largest supplier) and what should be grown (anything else). In April, Anthony Cordesman and Adam Mausner from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released their analysis of Afghan […]
I have never been one to diminish the chutzpah of folks trying to protect their special interests by embellishing the truth. I’m actually reading a particularly compelling – often horrifying – book right now called Merchants of Doubt. There are all sorts of obfuscation, misinformation, disinformation, lies, and other forms of wrong dealing documented in […]
This is just too good – and painful – to pass up: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c An Energy-Independent Future www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party
Last week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the winners of the annual World Food Prize. For the first time in its history, the Prize, given each year by The World Food Prize Foundation, will be awarded to the heads of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that fight hunger. The winners are David Beckmann, president of Bread […]
I had an interesting visit the other day, along with some other local climate change folks, at the British Consulate-General in New York. Over lunch, members of the Climate & Energy team talked with us about developments in the UK, some of the politics here in the US, and clean tech initiatives. I want to […]
David Leonhardt, an economics columnist and blogger for the “NY Times,” has just taken a good swing at the compelling arguments for a cap-and-trade bill. See Saving Energy, and Its Cost. (For a recent post from me on this and an exchange with an opponent, see The Facts of Cap and Trade.) Leonhardt has about […]
Happy “World Day to Combat Desertification” (WDCD) everyone! It may not be a day on the calendar that everyone keeps exceedingly close tabs on, but a little more information couldn’t hurt. Desertification is a process where land is slowly degraded due to certain human and environmental factors. Occurring in dryland ecosystems that already have scarce […]
We are six months out from Copenhagen and further talks in Bonn, where the UNFCCC is headquartered, have just concluded. The release from the UNFCCC says the recent talks made “progress on fleshing out specifics” for a global climate change regime. There were 5,500 participants, including government delegates from over 180 countries, and reps from […]