Grist | Topics | 16 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 16 of 16
Headline	Author	Published	Section
'There is no box' Lester Brown unveils plan for 80 percent cuts by 2020	Jon Rynn	02 Jul 2008	Gristmill
Lester R. Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute and author, most recently, of Plan B, Version 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, released a new study today called 'Time for Plan B: Cutting carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2020.' I was invited to participate in a conference call in which Lester explained many of the highlights of the plan; I will do my best to share what he said (any mistakes are my own). First, it appears that the only comprehensive plan to ...
Topics: cap-and-dividend, carbon tax, carbon trading, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, public transportation, renewable energy (all these topics)

GHG policy thoughts, economics edition The goal of climate policy is not high GHG prices	Sean Casten	15 Jun 2008	Gristmill
There's an implicit assumption in much of the climate policy debate that to meaningfully lower greenhouse-gas emissions, we need a high price on carbon. The assumption is wrong. Economics 101 In a market setting, price is a function of supply and demand. For a given commodity, prices will be high when demand outpaces supply and low when supply outpaces demand. Thus oil, for instance, is expensive. And autographed copies of my pen and ink cartoons are cheap ( ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, economy, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy (all these topics)

Deloitte survey of consumers and utility regulators	David Roberts	20 May 2008	Gristmill
On Monday, consultant firm Deloitte released two new surveys, one of consumers and one of utility regulators. There's some fairly interesting stuff in there. First off, some 87 percent of utility regulators expect the cost of producing electricity to rise next year. Why? Here's what they attribute it to: Fuel prices (35 percent). Environmental compliance (23 percent). Capital costs (21 percent). Inflation (11 percent). Asked to rate options by thei ...
Topics: climate, coal, energy, energy at home, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy (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: energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, climate change mitigation, climate, renewable energy (all these topics)

Maryland keeps getting greener State's governor pursuing clean energy and GHG reductions	Joseph Romm	07 Apr 2008	Gristmill
This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Kari Manlove, fellows assistant at the Center for American Progress. ----- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has prioritized clean energy policy and aims to reduce the state's energy consumption 15 percent by 2015. In addition, Maryland is a part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric utilities. With those goals topping the governor's agenda, Maryland's Senate chambers ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, Maryland, politics, renewable energy, state politics (all these topics)

'Decision-makers' rank GHG abatement technologies Guess which type of energy comes in last in a recent poll	Ron Steenblik	12 Dec 2007	Gristmill
GlobeScan, a self-styled 'global public opinion and stakeholder research' organization based in Toronto, has just published the results of a survey of 1,000 climate 'decision-makers and influencers' from across 105 countries, conducted in the two weeks leading up to the Bali Climate Conference (Nov. 22-Dec. 5, 2007). According to the firm's website: Unlike public opinion polls, this survey focuses on the views of professionals in position to make or influence lar ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy (all these topics)

The salty, oily flavor of progress 80% by 2050? Try 2010.	Adam Stein	20 Nov 2007	Gristmill
Got a headache from all the recent back and forth over rhetoric and politics of climate change? Last week, Frito-Lay served up a refreshingly rhetoric-free reminder that the future is coming no matter what we might do to encourage (or stop) it. Under their net zero initiative, the salty snack behemoth will be taking an Arizona potato chip factory almost entirely off the grid, running it on renewable energy and recycled water. The project stands out to me mostly for wha ...
Topics: renewable energy, energy, climate, business, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Mmm ... kiwi ... New Zealand sounds nice	David Roberts	26 Sep 2007	Gristmill
New Zealand: New Zealand has long had a reputation for being "clean and green" and has a proud record of conservation, with around 30% of its total land area being protected from development. Last week it announced bold plans [PDF] to tackle climate change, following up on a goal set by prime minister Helen Clark at the start of the year for New Zealand to become the world's first carbon neutral country. Among the stated targets, to be legisla ...
Topics: carbon neutral, carbon trading, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, New Zealand, renewable energy (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)

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)

Climate change big picture A great piece in the WaPo	David Roberts	16 Jul 2007	Gristmill
In Sunday's Washington Post, Steven Mufson has an excellent big-picture look at the effort to fight global warming via legislation. It offers a sense of the scope of the problem: The potential economic impact of meaningful climate legislation -- enough to reduce U.S. emissions by at least 60 percent -- is vast. Automobiles would have to get double their current miles to the gallon. Building codes would have to be tougher, requiring use of more energy-efficient mater ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Give ethanol a chance: The case for corn-based fuel With the right rules in place, it could work	David Morris	17 Jun 2007	Gristmill
Working Assets is my long-distance phone company. I love it dearly for its combination of business efficiency, social responsibility and progressive politics. Each month, my phone bill carries alerts that urge me to take action on a specific issue or two. Recent Citizen Actions suggest the gravity of the issues chosen: "Save Our Constitution," "Impeach Dick Cheney," "Close Guantanamo." This month Workin ...
Topics: biofuels, cars, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, ethanol, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy (all these topics)

Mr. Right, or Mr. Right Now? Getting carbon cap and trade right for renewables	Adam Browning	07 Jun 2007	Gristmill
For the 110th Congress, this is not just a question for Saturday night. One of the reasons why federal carbon cap and trade legislation is so slow in coming -- besides coal state mendacity -- is because it is damn complicated. Of the critical design choices, there is insufficient common understanding of implications, to say nothing of agreement. We will only be successful in fighting global warming via a transition to renewable energy. Carbon capture and sequestr ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, Congress, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Did I say no more CTL? I meant just one more	David Roberts	30 May 2007	Gristmill
There's a growing tension between the subsidy-happy proclivities of Congress and its self-imposed mandate to reduce carbon emissions. You just can't spend all the available federal dollars on ethanol and CTL and expect to reduce emissions. Bills like this one, introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), are going to bring that tension to a head: A bill about to be introduced in the Senate would push utilities to generate drastically more of their power -- 15%, comp ...
Topics: climate, Congress, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Bill Richardson's climate and energy plan The boldest plan on the table	David Roberts	17 May 2007	Gristmill
As of today, Bill Richardson has become the boldest, most visionary Democratic presidential candidate on climate and energy policy. (John Edwards is a close second.) No politician from either party has put forward a plan that comes closer to being a realistic response to the energy shortages and climate chaos heading our way. Here's the heart of Richardson's speech today: We need a man-on-the-moon program to end this addiction, this hemorrhage.� But we nee ...
Topics: Bill Richardson, climate, elections, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics, presidential race 08, renewable energy (all these topics)

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