The Independent’s environment editor, Tom Bawden, reports on Lord Nicholas Stern’s latest criticisms of the Government’s rush into fracking without a thorough analysis of all its potential ramifications. Baseless economics': Lord Stern on David Cameron’s claims that a UK fracking boom can bring down price of gas Lord Stern, author of the hugely influential … Continue reading Lord Stern criticises Britain’s rush to frack
Author: Rod Janssen
Innovative financing to address climate change
Diane Caldwell writes in the New York Times about the efforts of Billy Parish to set up a company that functions like a virtual renewable energy bank A Bet on the Environment Just after his sophomore year at Yale in 2002, Billy Parish stood before a rapidly retreating glacier in India that feeds the … Continue reading Innovative financing to address climate change
New paper: fuel poverty and energy efficiency obligations – a critical view
Jan Rosenow, a Senior Consultant in Energy and Climate Policy at Ricardo-AEA, a global consulting firm, has teamed up with Reg Platt (Institute for Public Policy Research) and Brooke Flanagan (Future Climate) and produced a paper critically examining the tensions created by using energy efficiency obligations for fuel poverty alleviation. While the energy efficiency obligations … Continue reading New paper: fuel poverty and energy efficiency obligations – a critical view
Economist weighs in on the importance of a carbon tax in the US
N. Gregory Mankiw, a professor of economics at Harvard and an adviser to President George W. Bush, recently wrote in the New York Times about his preference for a carbon tax to address climate change concerns. A Carbon Tax That America Could Live With This summer, the Obama administration released the President’s Climate Action Plan. … Continue reading Economist weighs in on the importance of a carbon tax in the US
Shale gas on the rise?
On September 5th, Britain’s Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, gave strong support for fracking. "If we can have gas safely in this country that will mean jobs, tax revenue and greater energy security - so fracking is not the evil thing that some people try to make it out to be," he said on BBC’s Radio … Continue reading Shale gas on the rise?
Number of the week – 500
EiD was quite shocked to read this in The Independent this week: Nearly a fifth of British adults never venture more than 500 metres from their car, according to a damning new report from the National Trust which shows people are getting out and about much less than previous generations.
Concern about the overuse of ‘sustainability’
The word has become so corrupted as to not only be meaningless, but to actually obscure the real issues, according to a very thoughtful article provided by Doug King in The Guardian. Why the word 'sustainability' should be banned While the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that became all the rage some time … Continue reading Concern about the overuse of ‘sustainability’
United Nations having a say in Britain’s renewable energy strategy
Margareta Pagano explains in the Independent that a UN Tribunal has accused the UK government of acting illegally by not having adequate public consultation. UN ruling puts future of wind farms in Britain in jeopardy Plans for future wind farms in Britain could be in jeopardy after a United Nations legal tribunal ruled that the … Continue reading United Nations having a say in Britain’s renewable energy strategy
Fracking on the march in Europe
The Netherlands has a long history exploiting its gas fields. Now, Matt Steinglass writes in the Financial Times about the steps underway for the Netherlands to exploit its shale gas reserves. It is amazing how much attention is being given in energy debates in Europe to fracking. Let’s hope that objectives to move to a … Continue reading Fracking on the march in Europe
Climate change and managing risk
Dana Nuccitelli provides a very thought-provoking column in the Guardian about our ability to normally manage risk, but when it comes to addressing climate change, we appear to be making some big mistakes. Is climate change humanity's greatest-ever risk management failure? Humans are very good at managing risks, except when it comes to the … Continue reading Climate change and managing risk
