Grist | Topics | 34 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 25 of 34
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Efficiency first! Part two The urgency to begin CO2 reduction via efficiency	Guest author	29 Jul 2008	Gristmill
This is a guest post by Ned Ford, Energy Chair of the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club and a member of the Club's national Global Warming and Energy Committee. Ford has been actively promoting electric utility efficiency strategies since 1983. This is the second in a series (first here). ----- If what you want to do is solve global warming, the core strategy is energy efficiency. Efficiency may have displaced more than half of all the new growth in electr ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, electricity, energy, energy efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Conservatives and climate change, continued A carbon policy is likely to be less devastating than nature, or oil markets	Ryan Avent	08 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Reihan responds. Let me just say a few more things. First, I described his characterization of carbon pricing as 'insane' based on this: What we need is a $100 billion prize or set of prizes to the person or firm or non-profit entity that can devise a cost-effective means of scrubbing the atmosphere of carbon emissions. This sounds insane, I realize. It is less insane than the far costlier, far less egalitarian regulatory alternative. Just to clarify. Next, Reiha ...
Topics: carbon tax, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, gas prices, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Details matter: Winner-picking and social engineering Lieberman Warner criticism, Part 3	Sean Casten	29 Apr 2008	Gristmill
This is the third in a five-part series exploring the details of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. See also part 1 and part 2. Let's do a thought experiment. Imagine that tomorrow morning, you wake up, reach in your pocket, and find that you suddenly have billions of dollars of cash. Before you have a moment to celebrate, you also realize that you are lying in the middle of an interstate, and there is a big truck coming. What do you do? (a) Issue an RFP ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Details matter: Small sticks and no carrots Lieberman-Warner criticism, Part 2	Sean Casten	25 Apr 2008	Gristmill
This is the second in a five-part series exploring the details of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. See part 1 here. With atmospheric GHG concentrations rising at a frightening rate, we need a full court press to change directions, using every possible tool at our disposal. From an economic perspective, this means that we not only need to impose financial penalties on polluters, but also provide financial incentives for those who act to lower GHG emissions. ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Is 450 ppm (or less) politically possible? Part 2 The 14 wedges needed to stabilize emissions	Joseph Romm	23 Apr 2008	Gristmill
In this post I will lay out 'the solution' to global warming, focusing primarily on the 14 'stabilization wedges.' Part 1 argued that stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide at 450 ppm is not politically possible today, but that it is certainly achievable from an economic and technological perspective. It would require some 14 of Princeton's 'stabilization wedges' -- strategies and/or technologies that over a period of a few decades each reduce glo ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy (all these topics)

Breaking the U.S.-China suicide pact William Chandler's recommendations on how we can cooperate to lower emissions	Joseph Romm	28 Mar 2008	Gristmill
William Chandler, director of the Carnegie Energy and Climate Program, has borrowed my phrase for the title of his new study: 'Breaking the Suicide Pact: U.S.-China Cooperation on Climate Change.' It begins: Together, China and the United States produce 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Their actions to curb or expand energy consumption will determine whether efforts to stop global climate change succeed or fail. If these two nations act to curb emissions, ...
Topics: China, climate, climate change mitigation, economy, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, international politics, United States (all these topics)

Turning CO2 into gasoline A new way to waste energy	Joseph Romm	21 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Last week, the NYT's Andy Revkin blogged about a federal laboratory that says it can take atmospheric carbon dioxide and turn it into gasoline: One selling point with Los Alamos's 'Green Freedom' concept, and similar ones, is that reusing the carbon atoms in the captured CO2 molecules as a fuel ingredient avoids the need to find huge repositories for the greenhouse gas. The only problem with that exciting statement is that it is almost certainly not true, a ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, oil (all these topics)

Cap-and-trade and fairness for working families A second opportunity to make climate pricing fair	Alan Durning	07 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Climate policy offers an enormous opportunity not only to undo our fossil-fuel addiction and build a stable energy future, but also to reverse the natural unfairness of climate change itself. I've said it before: energy prices are going up no matter what, with or without climate policy. But smart policy can turn rising costs into broadly shared benefits. It can shield working families, fund a shift to a clean future of new technologies, compact communities, and a tr ...
Topics: cap-and-dividend, carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics (all these topics)

Season's greetings: Oregon Peaceworks starts on a 5% solution Combating global warring by addressing global warming	JMG	16 Dec 2007	Gristmill
A long-established statewide peace organization in Oregon has initiated a new project called "The 5% Solution" as a way to give people a SMART (specific, measurable, appropriate, realistic, and timed) goal for climate action. It asks people to pledge to reduce their own carbon footprint 5 percent a year, each year, and to spread that commitment through their communities, and then states, and then country.As the material here notes, if the developed world stops increasi ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

The youth are back and badder than ever The real story at Bali	Youth Movement	06 Dec 2007	Gristmill
In 2005, at the U.N.'s Montreal Climate Negotiations, a ragtag but sizable delegation showed up at the conference, desperate to make sure that the world heard their call for climate action. The event proved to be a formative time for people involved in the youth climate movement, and many date its launch to that time. In a conference notable for acronyms and obscure policy jargon, the youth activism was like a breath of fresh air. While delegates bemoaned th ...
Topics: Bali 07, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, grassroots activism, greenhouse-gas emissions, international politics, politics (all these topics)

Keep it simple, stupid! How to structure a cap-and-trade program	Clark Williams-Derry	05 Dec 2007	Gristmill
From an awesomely meaty article on cap-and-trade from The San Francisco Chronicle comes this pearl of wisdom (in bold at the bottom of the quote): [T]he lesson of the acid rain program is to keep the plan simple and easy for all parties to understand. "If it starts to employ a lot of special provisions to take care of every party's special needs ... and if it starts to look like the Chicago phone book, then throw it out," [RFF economist Dallas ...
Topics: business, carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Goooaaalll! What will it take to reduce Washington state GHG emissions 10 million tons by 2020?	Clark Williams-Derry	15 Nov 2007	Gristmill
Earlier this year, the governor of Washington set an ambitious goal (PDF): reducing the state's greenhouse-gas emissions by 10 million tons by 2020. That would put the state's emissions back to about where they were in 1990 -- roughly an 11 percent decline, all told, from today's levels. Of course, that's only a start. Real climate leadership will require reductions on the order of 80 to 90 percent by the middle of this century. Still, a 10-million-ton re ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, Washington (all these topics)

Carbon sequestration and the precautionary principle A guest essay from Peter Montague raises questions about the rush to sequestration	David Roberts	12 Nov 2007	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay from Peter Montague, executive director of the Environmental Research Foundation. ----- In response to a relentless stream of bad news about global warming, a cluster of major industries has formed a loose partnership with big environmental groups, prestigious universities, philanthropic foundations, and the U.S. federal government -- all promoting a technical quick-fix for global warming called "carbon sequestration." ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, climate change mitigation, coal, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Geo-engineering remains a bad idea Climate change mitigation strategy could actually damage the planet	Joseph Romm	19 Oct 2007	Gristmill
Earl Killian sends me this WSJ op-ed: 'Thinking Big on Global Warming' (subs. req'd.). He sees some good news in it -- the WSJ 'published a non-denier [opinion] piece.' Yes, but geo-engineering is one of the delayers' sexiest strategies -- holding out the promise of a pure techno-fix that doesn't require all those annoying regulations needed to completely change our energy system. The conservative (duh!) authors of the WSJ piece embrace trying to 'develop capabiliti ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, geoengineering, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

A carbon tax even Dingell haters can love From Rep. John Larson	David Roberts	15 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Love the carbon tax but can't stand Dingell? Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) is your man. He just introduced a kick-ass carbon tax bill (PDF) to the House. From Greenwire ($ub req'd): Larson's legislation would set a $15 tax in its first year for every ton of carbon dioxide emissions from the oil, gas and coal industries, with the tax rising 10 percent annually while also keeping pace with inflation. Larson's office also released a memo (PDF) saying the tax would be 'e ...
Topics: carbon tax, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Interview with Thomas Casten, part three Why efficiency is the key to CO2 reduction	David Roberts	15 Aug 2007	Gristmill
DR: The conservative argument on global warming is that CO2 emissions are a good indicator of economic activity. They rise and fall together. Thus, fighting global warming is a secret UN plot to hobble the American economy relative to China and India. That's Inhofe's theory, anyway. TC: He's the only elected official in Washington that might possibly be stupider than the man in the White House. Even people that very much want to do something about global ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, energy efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Marrying efficiency and renewables A match made in heaven?	Joseph Romm	13 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Energy efficiency and renewable power together are better than either alone, according to a recent report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the American Council on Renewable Energy. Not a shocking conclusion, but an important one, especially in a world where it seems that all types of zero-carbon power are competing against each other for funding. The report finds that synergies between renewables and efficiency would cut greenhouse-gas em ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, energy efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy (all these topics)

Repetto argues for upstream cap-and-trade More on carbon trading	Joseph Romm	07 Aug 2007	Gristmill
August is a time to catch up on reading. A good place to start is 'National Climate Policy: Choosing the Right Architecture' [PDF], by Yale's Robert Repetto, one of the country's leading experts on environmental and resource economics. He argues for an upstream cap-and-trade system, and against a safety valve. Other views can be found here, here, and here. This is Repetto's conclusion:It is extremely important that the U.S. adopt a good policy architecture for gr ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics (all these topics)

Carbon- and nuclear-free America possible by 2050 Now that's a 12-step program	JMG	01 Aug 2007	Gristmill
A hopeful press release touting an even more hopeful (wishful?) report: Takoma Park, MD -- At the G-8 summit in Germany in June 2007, President Bush promised to 'consider seriously' the European Union goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently to limit global temperature rise to about 4 degrees Fahrenheit. A new study concludes that the United States could eliminate almost all of its carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2050. It also concludes that it is possible ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, coal, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, nuclear power, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Jack Bauer is going to stop global warming The TV show 24 will reduce its carbon footprint	Chris Schults	27 Jul 2007	Gristmill
Fans of 24 know that if there's one person that can stop climate change, it ain't Al Gore. It's Jack Bauer. If you are not familiar with Jack, here are some of his qualifications from the site Random Jack Bauer Facts: There are two hands that can beat a royal flush. Jack Bauer's right hand and Jack Bauer's left hand. Most people would need months to recover from 20 months of Chinese interrogation. Jack Bauer needs a shower, a shave and a change of clothes. ...
Topics: biofuels, carbon offsets, climate, climate change mitigation, ecological footprint, energy, green living, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy, TV (all these topics)

The economic and political foolishness of paying for carbon reduction Don't let your ambition limit your reality	Sean Casten	16 Jul 2007	Gristmill
The quest to reduce carbon emissions is plagued by a near-pathological case of economic illiteracy. This illiteracy has caused us to focus on the wrong problems, and the wrong solutions ... and it's stalled the realization of any politically tenable carbon reductions.Ironically, while the goal of reducing carbon emissions has political allies and adversaries, the economic illiteracy is found on both sides. It has become self-reinforcing. The only solace is that the econ ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Sustainability gets a warmer embrace from U.S. companies Mindy S. Lubber of CERES looks at how far we've come and what the future might hold	Grist	10 Jul 2007	Gristmill
To celebrate its 15th anniversary, the GreenMoney Journal asked leaders in the realms of green business and socially responsible investing to forecast 15 years into the future. How green will our economy be in 2022? GreenMoney's anniversary issue features responses from Amy Domini of Domini Social Investments, Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm, futurist Hazel Henderson, and others. Mindy Lubber. Here, reprinted with permission, is a view from Mindy S. Lubbe ...
Topics: business, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, energy efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, United States (all these topics)

The promise and perils of public investment in energy Voters like it, but how to do it well?	David Roberts	29 Jun 2007	Gristmill
There's a big problem facing climate and energy advocates, one they seem to be more or less shutting their eyes to at the moment, hoping it will go away: regulations capping carbon and mandating emissions cuts are likely to raise energy prices for consumers in the short term. This is a problem because polls and surveys show fairly consistently that consumers are extremely sensitive to these prices. I think it's going to be frighteningly easy for right-wing demagogues ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics (all these topics)

Coal is the enemy of the human race: Robert Murray can kiss my ass edition Coal exec whines about regulations on his ability to destroy the earth and his workers	David Roberts	28 Jun 2007	Gristmill
This is not helping me keep my blood pressure down. Poor, poor coal executive feels persecuted: A senior coal company executive on Wednesday lambasted U.S. lawmakers for proposing caps on emissions blamed for global warming, saying the Democrats were out to destroy America's coal industry. Robert Murray, chairman, president and chief executive of Murray Energy Corp., also blasted the federal government's mine safety agency for 'outrageous' new fines that he war ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, coal, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

New Jersey gets ambitious Plans to make huge cuts in greenhouse gases	David Roberts	22 Jun 2007	Gristmill
Well it would be nice to know how they plan to do all this, but these certainly are ballsy goals out of New Jersey: Reduce greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020 (a 13 percent drop) and 80 percent below current levels by 2050. Regulators have one year to measure current and 1990 emissions and recommend a plan for meeting the 2020 goal. By 2010, they must have a plan for reaching the 2050 target. To protect electric suppliers, the state will adopt meas ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, New Jersey (all these topics)

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Stories About: climate AND climate change mitigation AND energy AND greenhouse-gas emissions