200926
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Intelligent Infrastructure
As part of the Obama administrations’ new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $80 billion dollars have been dedicated to investment in infrastructure. Rather than regurgitating traditional infrastructure that is based on an outdated conception of human-environment interactions, this influx of capital for infrastructure has the potential to be leveraged for innovation instead. Building Infrastructure that…
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The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009: Climate Policy Gets Real
Recently, Congressmen Henry A. Waxman and Edward J. Markey released a draft of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. And so the great climate and energy debate will finally begin for real. I have been studying environmental policy development for over three decades and just as we saw the start of policy…
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Where is the Water-Powered Car?
This week, General Motors has been in the news as they scramble to plan for bankruptcy after the US government announced it would not grant their request for a larger financial lifeline. A year ago, however, GM was making headlines (albeit smaller ones) for their Equinox Fuel Cell— technology that promised to make the nearly…
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The Geithner-Summers Plan is Even Worse Than We Thought
Two weeks ago, I posted an article showing how the Geithner-Summers banking plan could potentially and unnecessarily transfer hundreds of billions of dollars of wealth from taxpayers to banks. The same basic arithmetic was later described by Joseph Stiglitz in the New York Times (April 1) and by Peyton Young in the Financial Times (April…
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Early Human Influence on the Climate
I’ve been meaning to blog about our visit from Bill Ruddiman, professor emeritus at the University Virginia and former Doherty Senior Research Scientist, who stopped in at his old stomping grounds last month. Ruddiman just wasn’t here to renew old ties, though. Rather, he used his visit as an opportunity to continue a rather heated…
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Renewables May Gain Momentum in Response to Water Shortages
Most of the time, when you hear about environmentalists decrying the construction of a new coal-fired power plant, their objections are in relation to localized pollution or carbon dioxide emissions. Less frequently do you hear about protests related to the vast amounts of water that are needed to keep these plants running – water that…
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Water, Development and Corruption: An Unholy Alliance
A recent article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel highlighted some of the problems of building water infrastructure in the very regions where the Columbia Water Center is trying to work. The article cited intense corruption, as well as other factors, as barriers towards building improved water infrastructure. The most shocking point in the article is that…
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Everywhere a Hammer on a Nail
When holding a hammer in your hand, every problem can look like a nail. Dambisa Moyo’s book Dead Aid gives fresh meaning to this old adage, applying the perspective of a top-tier investment banker to the plight of the poorest people in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Economist recently panned the book by likening it to caricature.…
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Operational Coconut Yield Predictions
The Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka (CRI) has sustained an improved prediction scheme for national coconut production for the last four years. Coconuts are an important source of food and raw materials and also provide income to millions in the tropics. Coconuts are the most important food crop after rice in Sri Lanka and …
AGU25, the premier Earth and space science conference, takes place December 15-19, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. This year’s theme—Where Science Connects Us—puts in focus how science depends on connection, from the lab to the field to the ballot box. Once again, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School scientists, experts, students, and educators are playing an active role, sharing our research and helping shape the future of our planet. #AGU25 Learn More