State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Infrastructure14

  • Western Water Woes – Is Big Infrastructure the Way to Go?

    Western Water Woes – Is Big Infrastructure the Way to Go?

    Guest Blog by Michael Clark Pat Mulroy, the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, spoke on July 20 at a US Chamber of Commerce conference, as part of its Invest in Water Initiative, and proposed a bold idea: build a pipeline to divert Mississippi River flood waters to the West. This, she said,…

  • Canadian Boreal: Protecting Today’s Water for Tomorrow

    Canadian Boreal: Protecting Today’s Water for Tomorrow

    Canada’s Boreal forest is far from the public eye, but it contains 25 percent of the world’s wetlands.

  • Cooling the Former Frontier: Using Water to Save Energy

    Cooling the Former Frontier: Using Water to Save Energy

    AC units have become more efficient over the years, but energy consumption during hot summer months can increase significantly, boosting both the amount of money spent on electricity and the volume of greenhouse gasses emitted in the energy production process.

  • Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    For all its problems, Southern California has been a wonderful home for a lot of people over the past 100 or so years. It has nice beaches, good roads, plenty of places to eat, and, for now, a reliable supply of drinking water. Now imagine the L.A. riots had spread across the entire region, plunging…

  • The Fairytale of “Organic” Water

    The Fairytale of “Organic” Water

    Time and time again, marketing teams have proven that people will buy pretty much anything. So many examples exist that the topic was enough for Brooks Jackson to write an entire book about it. One of the more recent flim-flam schemes is selling organic water. Wait a tick, did I just say that? Yes, I…

  • Fracking Gains Ground in New York

    Fracking Gains Ground in New York

    Fracking is back in the news again, and in a big way. On July 1, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, released its recommendations regarding the controversial natural gas extraction technique. Amidst the din of statewide protests, the agency supported fracking in most of the state’s portion…

  • Clean Water for Fiji

    Clean Water for Fiji

    Corporate giant Fiji Water makes millions of dollars every year selling bottled water, but only 47 percent of Fiji Islanders have access to clean drinking water. That may change.

  • Cape May, New Jersey’s Battle Against Nature

    Cape May, New Jersey’s Battle Against Nature

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers battles an encroaching ocean, but how long will their funding hold out?

  • Toxic Waters in the Gilded State

    Toxic Waters in the Gilded State

    To those who have never been, the Golden State is known for luxurious palm tree-lined avenues, sun-drenched beaches, and picturesque mountains. But not all parts of California were created equal. The state’s San Joaquin Valley hosts a scene entirely different from the images of Malibu beaches depicted in travel brochures. It is the non-glittering core…

  • Western Water Woes – Is Big Infrastructure the Way to Go?

    Western Water Woes – Is Big Infrastructure the Way to Go?

    Guest Blog by Michael Clark Pat Mulroy, the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, spoke on July 20 at a US Chamber of Commerce conference, as part of its Invest in Water Initiative, and proposed a bold idea: build a pipeline to divert Mississippi River flood waters to the West. This, she said,…

  • Canadian Boreal: Protecting Today’s Water for Tomorrow

    Canadian Boreal: Protecting Today’s Water for Tomorrow

    Canada’s Boreal forest is far from the public eye, but it contains 25 percent of the world’s wetlands.

  • Cooling the Former Frontier: Using Water to Save Energy

    Cooling the Former Frontier: Using Water to Save Energy

    AC units have become more efficient over the years, but energy consumption during hot summer months can increase significantly, boosting both the amount of money spent on electricity and the volume of greenhouse gasses emitted in the energy production process.

  • Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times

    For all its problems, Southern California has been a wonderful home for a lot of people over the past 100 or so years. It has nice beaches, good roads, plenty of places to eat, and, for now, a reliable supply of drinking water. Now imagine the L.A. riots had spread across the entire region, plunging…

  • The Fairytale of “Organic” Water

    The Fairytale of “Organic” Water

    Time and time again, marketing teams have proven that people will buy pretty much anything. So many examples exist that the topic was enough for Brooks Jackson to write an entire book about it. One of the more recent flim-flam schemes is selling organic water. Wait a tick, did I just say that? Yes, I…

  • Fracking Gains Ground in New York

    Fracking Gains Ground in New York

    Fracking is back in the news again, and in a big way. On July 1, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, released its recommendations regarding the controversial natural gas extraction technique. Amidst the din of statewide protests, the agency supported fracking in most of the state’s portion…

  • Clean Water for Fiji

    Clean Water for Fiji

    Corporate giant Fiji Water makes millions of dollars every year selling bottled water, but only 47 percent of Fiji Islanders have access to clean drinking water. That may change.

  • Cape May, New Jersey’s Battle Against Nature

    Cape May, New Jersey’s Battle Against Nature

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers battles an encroaching ocean, but how long will their funding hold out?

  • Toxic Waters in the Gilded State

    Toxic Waters in the Gilded State

    To those who have never been, the Golden State is known for luxurious palm tree-lined avenues, sun-drenched beaches, and picturesque mountains. But not all parts of California were created equal. The state’s San Joaquin Valley hosts a scene entirely different from the images of Malibu beaches depicted in travel brochures. It is the non-glittering core…