Emissions | Grist

Hey, Look, a Forest!

Report: Forest conservation can be as reliable as other ways of reducing pollution 2
Posted 1 month ago Experts increasingly agree that pollution reductions from forest conservation are as easy or easier to track than those from other sources, such as energy.
If the grass looks greener, it’s important to understand the nature of the fence 0
Posted 1 month ago One of the things about politics is that solutions always seem easier to implement and more promising before they stand a real chance of being implemented.
Climate bill breakdown 2
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Wondering how the Senate's Kerry-Boxer climate bill stacks up against the Waxman-Markey version in the House? Russ Choma does the math.
The assumption of inconvenience 0
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago Early this week, I noticed a number of my favorite bloggers linking to a Elisabeth Rosenthal essay at Environment 360, on the mysterious greenness of European nations. The average American, as it happens, produces about twice as much carbon dioxide each year as your typical resident of Western Europe.
Why the Second Circuit “nuisance” case brings good news, and bad (part 1) 0
Posted 1 month, 4 weeks ago Coverage and analysis is slowly trickling in of the landmark ruling [pdf] handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit late yesterday, in which a 2-judge panel held that a group of states and environmental groups could sue several electric utility companies for creating a “public nuisance” through their emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases.
Wonkeriffic!

An interview with Jason Burnett, who worked on EPA greenhouse gas regulations 0
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago

The following is an interview with Jason Burnett, who worked in the EPA under President GW Bush, wherein we discuss efforts by the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. Burnett quit the EPA in protest in June 2008, alleging interference from the Office of the Vice President.

The interview is meant as a supplement to the story, "Everything you always wanted to know about EPA greenhouse gas regulations, but were afraid to ask."
Emissions per person in parts of China above rich nations, Stern says 1
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
One of the world's top authorities on climate change warned Friday that carbon emissions per person in parts of China were higher than in some developed countries.
The three amigos take on climate change

Obama, Calderon, and Harper talk up vision for ‘low-carbon North America’ 1
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
At a North American summit Monday in Guadalajara, Mexico, U.S. President Barack Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper released a statement on climate change.
Define 'clunker'

Cash for ... other things! 3
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
So Congress approved and President Obama signed an extension of the hugely popular (and not-really-so-green) cash-for-clunkers program. Woohoo! We can think of some better "Cash for ..." programs the government should be funding ...
The keep-it-cold war

Global warming is no friend to Russia, ambassador says 5
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak disagreed sharply with recent news reports suggesting Russian leaders may welcome climate change because it would make Arctic gas and oil deposits and northern regions more accessible.
Small changes at EPA could have big environmental impacts 1
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
While climate change legislation works its way toward 60 votes in the Senate, President Obama's EPA has been quietly working on some serious revisions to the guidelines it uses to conduct cost-benefit analysis. Tweaks they might make to the powerful but low-profile Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses could have major impacts on the environment and could spur greenhouse gas reductions if the Senate fails to take action.
Radiant Cities: Drive Through This

Can we really make the drive-thru a source of power? 3
Posted 4 months ago
Drivers drooling as they wait for Big Macs and Whoppers could be a promising energy source, if one company has its way. Find out whether the latest scheme will work -- and who's trying to stand in its path.
Clean Energy Economy

Is China winning the clean energy race? 7
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
Industrialized nations may find themselves borrowing and begging for new technologies that China has been busy perfecting all along.
Duelling diatribes

Hansen versus Romm 0
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
For all of Waxman-Markey's faults, I think it gets two things right: (1) allowance set-asides to fund tropical forest conservation, and (2) a meaningful price floor...However, they leave W-M with no coherent policy foundation, because its other regulatory mechanisms -- the cap, trading, economy-wide linkage, banking, borrowing, and offsets -- all operate to achieve the converse objective of minimizing costs within limits of a predetermined (and unsustainable) emission cap.
Next on climate: Improve Waxman-Markey innovation provisions in Senate 0
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Few aspects of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill matter more than the insufficient degree to which it applies future revenue to clean energy innovation. Quite simply, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) makes only a modest start toward promoting the technology breakthroughs that will make clean energy cheap, reduce carbon emissions, and create thousands of cleantech jobs.
Not: Can you be civil? and Will you be a jerk?

The two most important questions that both critics and supporters of Waxman-Markey must answer 0
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Behind the numbers

350 vs. 450: The heart of the matter 2
Posted 5 months ago
There has never been a civic dispute as precisely quantified as climate. Most U.S. environmental organizations endorse the Waxman-Markey climate bill with the stated goal of keeping atmospheric greenhouse gases below 450 parts per million. The conservative position enunciated by Jim Hansen, advanced by Bill McKibben and 350.org, and endorsed by a handful of climate advocates (none of them mainstream environmental organizations) is defined as an immediate return below 300-350 ppm.

The two numbers are not staging points on a gradual curve of escalating climate impacts, a fact that does not seem to be acknowledged in the present debate. Each goal is the product of an entirely different calculus.
Frontpage Falsehoods

The New York Times sells its integrity to ExxonMobil 0
Posted 5 months ago
The NYT simply can't give up precious front page space for this kind of disinformation, which is utterly misleading to the public.
Offsets: Pissing the earth away 1
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
More than 2 and half years ago I wrote:

"Mommy, where do carbon offsets come from?"

"Well, you see sweetheart, when a major polluter and a consultant love money very, very much, they express that love in a special way. Nine months later, the consultant produces an extremely large paper packet."

Offsets -- the idea that big corporations can pay someone else to cut emissions on their behalf -- still fails as badly today as when that was written.
PLUS! why the allocations do not undermine energy efficiency efforts

Everything you wanted to know about Waxman-Markey allocations 0
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago