The on-going debate about global warming and economists

John Abraham and Dana Nuccitelli have a regular blog in The Guardian called Climateconsensus – the 97%. In this blog, John Abraham explains why he feels the 2009 publication, SuperFreakonomics, is misleading on climate change. Global Warming and Economists - SuperFreakonomics is SuperFreakingWrong Those who purchased the book SuperFreakonomics are paying to be misled about … Continue reading The on-going debate about global warming and economists →

How Europe is making the transition to green urban transportation

Erica Gies writes in the New York Times about efforts in Europe to integrate the old with the new to develop a much greener approach to urban transit. Examples are given from Austria, France and Germany. In Europe, Greener Transit on Existing Infrastructure Vienna is employing some old-fashioned technology to run shiny new electric buses … Continue reading How Europe is making the transition to green urban transportation →

A novel approach in Norway leads to the winner’s circle

Trust someone from Norway, with the enormous reserves of oil and gas in the country, to come up with an idea to actually pay countries to leave fossil fuels in the ground. Pilita Clark writes in The Financial Times of a prize winning idea by a Norwegian academic. Norwegian’s provocative plan to curb climate … Continue reading A novel approach in Norway leads to the winner’s circle →

The health and wealth of cities

Tim Smedley writes in the Guardian about a new report by the Carbon Disclosure Project that discusses the positive impact of climate change on cities. It will be interesting to see how this is received by the environmental community. Is climate change making cities wealthier and healthier? A new report on climate change action … Continue reading The health and wealth of cities →

There are some things we should not ignore – but we do

If you don’t read everything Andrew Sims writes, you should. Andrew Simms is chief analyst at Global Witness, a fellow of the New Economics Foundation, and the author of Ecological Debt, Tescopoly and Eminent Corporations. What he does is make us think. This article is must reading. We keep moaning about population, but ignore … Continue reading There are some things we should not ignore – but we do →

Shale gas and US climate change policy

There has been much written on the shale gas revolution in the US. The reaction globally borders between horror and envy. This article by Eric Reguly of Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper is important for providing a good analysis of what this shale gas brings to Obama’s climate change policy ambitions. No doubt it still … Continue reading Shale gas and US climate change policy →

Concern about emissions trading scheme affecting the impact of renewables

Damian Carrington writes in the Guardian about the effects of an oversupply of carbon permits in the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on other efforts to cut carbon emissions. EU emissions trading scheme 'set to cancel out renewable energy gains' Deep problems in Europe’s carbon trading scheme – its flagship climate change policy … Continue reading Concern about emissions trading scheme affecting the impact of renewables →

UK struggling to reduce carbon emissions

Roger Harrabin writes on the BBC website about warnings that the UK will not meet its climate change targets. This is somewhat surprising given that the UK showed such confidence that achieving the climate change targets were not in doubt. UK given carbon emissions warning The UK is not on track to hit its … Continue reading UK struggling to reduce carbon emissions →

China taking more action to address air pollution

Keith Bradsher reports in the New York Times that the Chinese cabinet recently approved new measures to tackle the increasing problem of air pollution. China Sets New Rules Aimed at Curbing Air Pollution China’s cabinet has adopted 10 measures to improve air quality in the latest move aimed at responding to the dense smog … Continue reading China taking more action to address air pollution →

Need to reconsider our use of coal

We know that coal is not a sustainable energy source but it is still widely used, even in Europe. John Vidal writes in the Guardian about the serious impact coal pollution is having on health today in Europe. Interestingly, the Toronto Star reports that Ontario coal plants emit arsenic and chromium (which cause cancer); sulphur … Continue reading Need to reconsider our use of coal →