Climate & Energy

News and views on global warming, the impact of coal and other fossil fuels, and alternative energy options

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Panel of smarties, take one

Optimistic or pessimistic about the Copenhagen climate talks? 2
Posted 18 hours, 38 minutes ago
The COP15 climate conference starts next week in Copenhagen, and our panel of experts is optimistic ... ish. We asked them, "What's the mood as Copenhagen approaches?" Find out what they had to say. Read More
I'm only human, of flesh and blood I'm made

Making buildings more efficient: It helps to understand human behavior 13
Posted 1 day, 19 hours ago by David Roberts
If I told you how much energy your neighbors use on average, and whether you fell above or below that average, would that induce you to save more energy? What if, depending on whether you came in above or below average, you got an emoticon on your energy bill? Say, a smiley face if you save more energy than they do, a frowny face if less. Sounds silly, right? We're all rational people here. We do things for considered reasons, not some cartoon face! Except not so much. Read More
REC-ing the Planet

Why buying cheap energy certificates worsens climate change 23
Posted 1 day, 23 hours ago by Auden Schendler
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are a powerful mechanism for financing renewable energy projects. But they don't come cheap. Or, rather, anyone offering to sell you a REC on the cheap is selling you a lot of hot air. Read More

More Climate & Energy

How to make 1.7 million new clean energy jobs permanent 0
Posted 16 hours, 44 minutes ago by Brad Johnson
The challenges facing President Obama and the U.S. Congress have not gone away. Paul Krugman worries that "unemployment is likely to stay near its current level for a year or more," because "much of the political establishment now sees stimulus as having been discredited by events, so that it's very hard to come back and scale the policy up to where it should have been in the first place." But there remains a pathway out of Krugman's dire vision of "a process of defining prosperity down" -- if enough… Read More
Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Prelude to COP15: Climate justice actions sweep the U.S. before Copenhagen talks 0
Posted 1 day, 17 hours ago by Joshua Kahn Russell
Climate justice activists turned up the street heat to corporations in the financial and energy sectors most responsible for the climate crisis. Initiated by the Mobilization for Climate Justice and the Climate Pledge of Resistance, the day of action came a week before social movements converge in Copenhagen at the U.N. climate talks on Dec. 7 and on the tenth anniversary of the World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Seattle in 1999. Major demonstrations, teach-ins, civil disobedience actions… Read More
And in this corner ...

Lomborg v. Monbiot: liveblogging the Munk debate on climate change 9
Posted 21 hours, 55 minutes ago by David Roberts
Today I'll be liveblogging a debate on how the world should respond to climate change. Arguing for a vigorous response will be Elizabeth May, head of Canada's Green Party, and noted author/thinker George Monbiot. Arguing for giving climate change a low priority, or no priority at all, will be Bjorn Lomborg (who needs no introduction) and former Thatcher government official Lord Nigel Lawson. You can watch the debate -- and the liveblogging -- as it happens by clicking on this post! Read More
Copen-talkin’: Smarties offer their takes on COP15 climate talks
Posted 18 hours, 41 minutes ago
Wondering how to make sense of all this crazy Copenhagen stuff? Us too, so we rounded up a motley crew of activists and thinkers to share their wit and wisdom about the global climate talks taking place Dec. 7-18. Read More
E15 or Fight!

EPA punts on raising ethanol “blend wall” 0
Posted 19 hours, 37 minutes ago by Tom Laskawy
In a nutshell, ethanol companies have been struggling mightily during the recession. In response, industry group Growth Energy petitioned the EPA to allow gasoline to contain up to 15 percent ethanol rather than the current 10 percent. This demand also had the strong support of the big farm groups as well as of USDA Chief Tom Vilsack himself. Having already delayed its response to Growth Energy's petition once, the EPA was due to give a response today. And it was ... a punt. Read More
Mark your carbon calender

December 19—the day after COP15 0
Posted 21 hours, 16 minutes ago by Terry Tamminen
What happens on Dec. 19 -- the day after climate talks finish up in Copenhagen -- and beyond? Terry Tamminen has a handy cheat sheet to help you understand what to look forward to in the years ahead. Read More
It’s Getting Ha! in Here: Featuring Wyatt Cenac 0
Posted 23 hours, 9 minutes ago
Daily Show correspondent and writer Wyatt Cenac talks to Grist about summoning the ancient gods and goddesses to help the planet. Read More
overshooting

Never-give-up fighting spirit: lessons from a grandchild 7
Posted 1 day, 16 hours ago by James Hansen
How refreshing, on cold, windy Thanksgiving Plus One Day, which we spend with our children and grandchildren, when I went outside to shoot baskets with 5-year-old Connor. Connor is very bright, but needs work on his hand-to-eye coordination. I set the basket at a convenient height for him, but his first several shots banged off the backboard off-target. Then he said, very brightly and bravely, "I don't quit, because I have never-give-up fighting spirit." Read More
Wen the climate is willing, but the action is weak

E.U. pushes China further after pledge to slow carbon intensity 2
Posted 1 day, 17 hours ago by Agence France-Presse
The European Union said Monday that cataclysmic climate change cannot be averted without Chinese leadership, but China's lead climate delegate, Wen Jiabao, stood firm in pushing for the rich world to take the lead. Beijing said last week that by 2020 it would curb emissions per unit of GDP by between 40 and 45 percent compared to 2005 levels. Read More
Shocking developments on the farm

Do diesel-based farmers dream of electric tractors? 10
Posted 1 day, 18 hours ago by Tom Laskawy
Tom Laskawy muses on the potential for electric tractors in the coming age of Peak Oil. Read More
A wild ride

Copenhagen climate summit (part 1): the expectations 2
Posted 1 day, 22 hours ago by Jake Schmidt
As we are quickly approaching the final stretch before the Copenhagen climate negotiations (just a week to go before it begins), Jake Schmidt offers a quick summary of where the past 2 years of international negotiations have taken us and where we are headed. Read More
Organic farming has a major part to play in a low-carbon world

Soil carbon—a blind spot in the debate on carbon 5
Posted 1 day, 23 hours ago by Emma Hockridge
COP15 looks like it may well be a cop out. The world was disappointed when it became clear Barack Obama would not get climate protection legislation through the U.S. Senate, endangering any meaningful global agreement. But a much earlier cop out came when agriculture failed to make it onto the agenda at all. Read More
On ‘climategate’ 42
Posted 3 days, 9 hours ago by David Roberts
Climate deniers, hold your fire! 22
Posted 3 days, 20 hours ago by Andrée Zaleska
China, India, U.S. commit to seal Copenhagen deal 2
Posted 6 days, 2 hours ago by Keith Schneider
Chuck Norris on Copenhagen 30
Posted 6 days, 19 hours ago by Tom Athanasiou
Climate Denial Crock of the Week: The big mist take 1
Posted 6 days, 19 hours ago by Peter Sinclair
The U.S.-India climate ‘partnership’ 0
Posted 6 days, 21 hours ago by Jonathan Zasloff
Obama going to Copenhagen 0
Posted 1 week ago by Agence France-Presse
For McCain, it’s really all about the fake snow 1
Posted 1 week ago by Tom Philpott
What to make of the new climate poll 42
Posted 1 week ago by David Roberts
Learning how to count to 350 0
Posted 1 week ago by Rebecca Solnit