climate matters23
-
The Policy Buffet (Part 3): As Kerry-Lieberman Fades, a Fresh Start for Cap-and-Trade?
This is the third post in a series that covers the Senates current energy and climate proposals. The introductory post can be found here. The American Power Act (APA), co-sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn), has been seen by many as a paradigm for comprehensive energy and climate legislation. The bill…
-
Climate News Roundup — Week of 6/28 – 7/4
If You Can’t Stand the Heat, New Research Suggests Moving Out of the City, The New York Times While the urban heat island effect – the recorded phenomenon of urban areas retaining more heat than rural ones – is well-known, new research from the UK suggests that urban areas will be more sensitive to climate…
-
Does temperature control atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations?
A record of temperature and atmospheric CO2 from Antarctic ice cores shows the tight relationship between the two over the past 800,000 years (see figure). It is frequently asserted that changes in Earth’s temperature or, more specifically, the temperature of the ocean, caused atmospheric CO2 concentrations to vary over that time period. The underlying principle…
-
The Policy Buffet (Part 2): Understanding the American Power Act
This is the second post in a series that covers the Senate’s current energy and climate proposals. The introductory post can be found here. Among the various climate and energy proposals floating through the Senate, the American Power Act (APA) has received the lion’s share of attention. The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass) and…
-
Climate News Roundup — Week of 6/21
State of VA Attorney General continues climate science probe, The Charlottesville Daily Progress Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is fighting UVa’s request to end the fraud case issued against climate scientist Michael Mann. Mann, currently teaching at Penn State University, one of the scientists involved in the “climategate” controversy that erupted last winter, was an…
-
Why Women Matter
Megatons of carbon dioxide, radiative forcing, technology deployment, cap-and-trade systems: this is the common vocabulary of climate change. Concepts of equality, justice and ethics are relative latecomers to this highly specialized and technical world. Where they have emerged, terms like ‘climate justice’ usually refer to the interests of developing nations as a whole, reflecting the deep…
-
Climate News Roundup — Week of 6/14
Bill Gates funds cloud-whitening effort to reduce global warming. USA Today Bill Gates is funding research into whether or not it is effective and feasible to increase the albedo of atmospheric clouds by spray sea mist high into the atmosphere. The plan, spearheaded by Silicon Valley inventor Armand Neukermans, is a relatively benign method of…
-
Energy, Agriculture, and the Environment: Dead Zones and the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
Catastrophic, tragic, disastrous: these are all words that have been used to describe the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is impossible to deny that these words apply – thick, goopy crude has already coated the beaches and estuaries of the Gulf, contaminating more than 120 miles of coastline. The spill is…
-
The Policy Buffet (Part 1): Making Sense of the Senate’s Climate and Energy Proposals
Advocates for energy policy reform and legislative action on climate change have long anticipated their opportunity to effect change. This summer may be the turning point they have awaited. In recent weeks, energy and climate policy have taken over the political limelight. The devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has forced Americans to…