Tag: Planet3.0

Bill Mckibben has just written a must read article in Rolling stone, ignore the initial error which I also made here on P3, and go read it now. Here are a few highlights: We have five times as much oil and coal and gas on the books as climate scientists

Michael Mann continues to do everyone a great service by consistently not backing down when faced with constant harassment, threats and unending attempts to smear his reputation. The latest is a particularly despicable short post at the National Review Online. On Twitter Michael Mann has announced: I have formally demanded retraction & apology for defamatory piece by #NationalReview. I have retained

From Jeff Masters: Each of the 13 months from June 2011 through June 2012 ranked among the warmest third of their historical distribution for the first time in the 1895 – present record. According to NCDC, the odds of this occurring randomly during any particular month are 1 in 1,594,323.

Granted, we’ve only lived in the area for 25 years… But the first 15 left an impression that this was not one of Dante’s circles. The last ten: approaching inner circle quickly.

Robert Grumbine points out that the recent derecho that hit Washington DC demonstrates the folly of thinking we can simply adapt to climate change: I live in the national Capitol area for what is supposed to be the richest and most technologically advanced country on the earth.  And many, large

The conclusion of a review by the Royal Society in the UK,  is that fracking can be done ‘safely’, provided ”best practices are implemented and robustly enforced through regulation.” Unfortunately the Royal Society did not examine the more interesting questions of what fracking means for the climate, hence the scare quotes in the

Tomorrow, North America’s only Carbon tax will increase by $5. British Columbia’s carbon tax was introduced July 1st 2008 at $10/tonne by the right of centre BC Liberals. Every year the carbon tax increases by $5 until the tax reaches a maximum of $30/tonne which it will do tomorrow July

Mark McCaffrey is not happy with the recent trend of downplaying the importance of climate literacy: There’s a dangerous meme drifting through the climate community: that when it comes to “solving” climate change, literacy does not matter. True, years of promoting filling the information deficit with more facts hasn’t worked,

There are many things evolution has not prepared us for. That is a major reason we find ourselves in this mess. (via xkcd) Related posts (randomly generated) This is my problem… The solution to our economic woes? Why you shouldn’t buy anything that includes DRM Another one of my problems

John Nielsen-Gammon is not happy with the appeals court decision that upheld EPA GHG emissions rules concluding: Until there’s a reasonably intelligent scheme, approved by Congress and the Administration, for regulating greenhouse gases effectively and appropriately on a national and intenational level, the present absurd approach is mandated by law. To me

Via Nature News: The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has agreed to set up an international scientific advisory board to provide him with guidance on science-related issues, and enable him to provide advice to UN member states on such issues. Related posts (randomly generated) Bush is in the Company of Friends

Via Climate Progress: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today unanimously ruled in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) legal authority to limit industrial carbon pollution under the Clean Air Act to protect Americans’ health. Makes sense, especially since it was the courts who

Via Nature News: Oil exploration ramps up in US Arctic A new round of exploratory oil drilling is due to begin in the Arctic this July. Oil companies are no doubt dreaming of a northern oil rush, while environmentalists face nightmares of devastating spills. Related posts (randomly generated) Canada could

It is worth noting that EO Wilson and Richard Dawkins are currently involved in a dispute over some of the more intricate details of evolutionary theory. I mention this only because it highlights a key aspect of scientific disputes that can get lost on (or intentionally abused by) some people.

Rio+20 has come and gone. It ended in the traditional fashion for UN environmental summits with the nations of the world agreeing that, at least in principle, it would be preferable to prevent wide-scale degradation of the planet’s natural systems. Furthermore world leaders have agreed that action should be taken,

This is more absurd than the usual drivel from ClimateDepot: We need to redefine sustainable development as oil, gas, coal Related posts (randomly generated) China going green? The carbon capture and storage myth Questions about clean coal and carbon capture and storage UN finds global inequality rising

Is anyone here interested/hopeful in RIO+20? Personally after watching year after year of UNFCCC meetings agree to do something about GHG emissions… at some unspecified point in the future, I have little hope that Rio+20 will produce anything useful. Though I’d love to be proven wrong. Related posts (randomly generated)

Roger Harrabin asks: Is ‘peak oil’ idea dead? So here’s another worry – not that we have too little oil and gas, for the time being at least. But that we have too much if we want to enjoy a stable climate. No related posts.

Yes, that is an absolute hyperbole. Did it get your attention? Yesterday the Canadian House of Commons passed the disastrous bill c-38 that rolls back much of Canada’s environmental protection legislation. Opposition parties mounted a desperate attempt to make amendments or at least split off some of the more contentious