Update [3:28 AM CST 12/11/10]: That’s it. Over the strenuous and highly verbal objections of Bolivia, the more than 190 countries at Cancún adopted a compromise deal that points the way towards a new system fo climate diplomacy that will include complementary actions by both developed and developing nations. The Cancun Agreements “mark …
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Climate: Science and Politics Diverge in the End Stages of Cancún
In a briefing for reporters before the Cancún climate summit began, World Resources Institute president Jonathan Lash summed up is expectations for the meeting in a made-up work: “CopenCun.” He meant that much of the work of the Cancún summit would involve tying up the many loose ends of last year’s meeting in Copenhagen, with ended …
Climate: The Shadow of Wikileaks at Cancún
It happens at nearly every international climate summit. Usually about halfway through the two-week long summits, there will be an outcry about “secret” texts being negotiated in secret by the big countries of the world, dealing over the heads of poorer and smaller nations—which happen to be the ones that will be hit hardest by climate …
Will Clouds Keep a Lid on Climate Change?
Clouds cool the planet by reflecting sunlight back into space. Clouds warm the planet by trapping heat. Both statements can be true, depending on what kind of clouds you’re talking about.
Add to that the fact that some types of clouds might increase in a warming world and some might decrease, and it becomes clear why clouds are …
Climate: Speaking the Truth on Avoided Deforestation and Warming in Cancún
Someone speaking the truth—it’s an unusual occurrence at any government event (unless you have a link to Wikileaks) and it’s even rarer at the highly stage-managed U.N. climate talks. But that’s exactly what happened last night in Cancún at an event put on by Avoided Deforestation Partners, an NGO dedicated to promoting REDD, or …
Energy: DOE Secretary Steven Chu Talks Up the “Sputnik Moment” for Energy Research
Readers of this blog will know that one of my pet issues is energy research and innovation. The U.S. invests an obscenely low amount of federal money on basic energy research—perhaps $5 billion a year, not counting one-time stimulus spending, compared to $30 billion and north of $70 billion annually for medicine and defense …
Coal’s Highest Price: 29 New Zealand Miners Die Underground
The mesmerizing events of 33 miners’ survival and epic rescue from the San José mine outside Copiapó, Chile, was an incredible thing to behold. And my first reaction to the tremendous attention that the saga commanded was that it could help raise the profile of the workers across the world who put their lives at risk in mines …
Lessons from Pakistan: Why It’s a Mistake to Ignore Climate Disaster Refugees
Remember the Pakistan floods? The floods that killed nearly 2000 people this summer, left over seven million people —roughly the population of the greater San Francisco area—homeless, and destroyed nearly five million acres of agricultural land? The story has inevitably receded from the international spotlight, as natural disaster …
Wildlife: Russia’s Putin Organizes to Save the Tiger
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is no one’s idea of an environmentalist. Putting aside his more general authoritarian tendencies, TIME’s 2007 Person of the Year has squeezed the space for civil society to operate, including in Russia’s nascent environmental movement. He’s favored the exploitation of Russia’s bountiful …
Sports: The NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles Go Green
The NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles are developing a new source of energy—and it’s not just hooking up wires to red-hot quarterback Michael Vick. The team announced today that it will be installing 2,500 solar panels, 80 20-ft high wind turbines and a generator that runs on natural gas and biodiesel, making its home park Lincoln …