[This just in on May 13: I majorly screwed up yesterday’s calculations causing the embodied energies of the steel to be over-estimated by a factor of five and therefore throwing this whole post off. Ugh. So sorry. The argument is not as straightforward as I had hoped and I will have to look into it more for the […]
global warming
The worst and the of best corporate efforts on climate change
Climate Counts, a non-profit that scores the commitment to reversing climate change of 56 major corporations in well-known consumer sectors–from apparel to electronics to fast food–today released their second annual company scorecard (read the full report here and the summary here). Climate Counts gives scores from 0 to 100, based on 22 criteria used to […]
More species extinction means more global warming
A week or two ago, I wrote about how if environmental damage is hurting other species, it’s hurting us. I wrote about how the massive number of extinctions that are occurring–some 20 to 50% of our species are expected to be gone within 100 years–cannot occur without fundamentally weakening the planetary systems we depend upon […]
What I’d say if I was wrong about climate change
Yesterday, a reader calling himself “Richard Miller” left behind a critical comment about my meeting with Congressman Nadler in which I will ask him to sponsor a “Sense of the House” resolution calling for climate change policy based on what is scientifically necessary rather than just politically possible. Richard asked, “How are you going to […]
Is it in your nature to try?
Can the way I live really make a difference? That’s one of the things we worry about, right? When it comes to figuring out whether to get involved in the political process or to make our lifestyles more sustainable, we all wonder if, in fact, we will make the slightest bit of difference. Is it […]
How to solve climate change and end poverty
When I posted yesterday about my disappointment in the public infighting by the climate change policy wonks I turn to for guidance, Greenpa left behind a comment saying, “What you have here, I think, is THE argument in favor of individual action, instead of ‘policy.’” The problem is, of course, that in 2050 there are […]
We can save the world or we can fight
The good news about global warming in the United States, I think, is that the “deniers,” as they’re called, have now been relegated to the fringe. The candidates from both parties have mitigation strategies (which isn’t to say they are equally good–see this chart). The debate about whether or not there is such a thing […]
We’ve changed our lifestyles. What about our politicians?
If you’re not from New York, you may think this post doesn’t apply to you. But please bear with me. You’ll see that it applies to us all. This week, we in New York City saw the death of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan–which would have reduced gridlock in New York by charging certain drivers […]