On August 1, 2013, four former Republican administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency published an op-ed in The New York Times, in a last-ditch effort to save their party and the environment. In “A Republican Case for Climate Action,” the four proposed one of two options: adopt a market-based solution such as a carbon tax … Read more
An urgent call for international and intergenerational justice at the UN climate talks, while Arab Youth Climate Movement forges change “In the session for the Green Climate Fund a woman from South Africa stood up to ask a question. She said, “My ancestral lands are going to go through a 4-5 degree increase even if … Read more
Restore Our Future, American Crossroads, and Club for Growth Action – all three names kindle both fear and hatred among liberals, and rightfully so. Spawned out of a pair of 2010 Supreme Court decisions, these conservative SuperPACs, like their smaller leftwing counterparts, represent an unprecedented intrusion of private capital into politics. With the vast majority … Read more
Despite being an isolated island nation devoid of great natural resource wealth, Japan ranks third globally in national energy production. As industrialization in Japan increased exponentially after World War II, the nation gradually diversified its energy sources. A key component of this diversification was the incorporation of nuclear power; before the disaster at the Fukushima … Read more
At the Cancun Climate Change conference in December, the United States and other developed nations announced their support for a $100 billion “Green Climate” fund. A significant fraction of those funds were allocated to support “climate aid” to developing countries. Rich, developed countries tend to be in temperate regions distant from the direct impacts of … Read more
As I wrote after the Midterms in November, the recent upheaval in the House of Representatives is of great consequence to climate legislation. The Republican majority chose Fred Upton (R-Michigan) as the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Upton’s views on climate change have run the gamut: in 2009, he spoke of the dangers … Read more
One part of the State of the Union address I particularly enjoyed: “We need to get behind [clean energy] innovation. And to help pay for it, I’m asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re doing just fine on their … Read more
As I mentioned in my last post, it’s time for a midterm post-mortem. Fortunately, Barbara Boxer kept her senate seat in California, and the Democrats held the senate, so Senator Boxer will remain chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works committee. Unfortunately, Henry Waxman will relinquish his chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, … Read more
With the midterms less than 50 hours from now, it’s fascinating to note how the environmental furor of the summer, especially in the aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill, seems to have largely subsided in discussions about the elections. Nevertheless, the outcome of the midterms, especially in the House, could have disastrous ramifications for the … Read more
Last week, Danny Wilson, our environment columnist, posted a very thorough analysis of a very thorough Yale report about climate change. He notes that Only 39% [of respondents] believe that “most scientists think global warming is happening.” This statistic is by far the most damning, and the most revealing. I agree that this is the … Read more