Category Archives: Climate & Environment

The EPA has proposed historic standards on carbon dioxide from new coal/gas power plants.  The standards are open for public comment and are under assault by the fossil fuels industry.  Please submit a comment today. You can copy the text of my letter below and email it to the EPA at: email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov Even if you simply write a one-sentence email with the docket number and the words “I support strong carbon emissions standards” that will help. ———————————————————— Attn: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0495. To Whom It May Concern: I am writing these comments in response to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0495, … Continue reading this post →

While it is incredibly difficult to permit the construction of relatively inert wind and solar farms in California, oil fracking, which involves pumping billions of gallons of water and millions of gallons of secret chemical cocktails in the ground, occurs with little environmental oversight. California ‘Oil and Ag’ Face Rift on Fracking – NYTimes.com.    

Note: As is the topic of constant conversation among those (rightly) concerned about the urgency of the threat of global warming, executive action (specifically through the EPA) represents something of a holy grail when it comes to the feasible opportunities left to us to see real change in climate/energy policies in the near term.  Thanks to a total wall of obstruction from the GOP, the post-stimulus Obama Administration has been a real disappointment when it comes to energy and climate policy. The below piece by Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post sums it up nicely: via Eugene Robinson: Obama’s mission … Continue reading this post →

NationalJournal.com – The Coming GOP Civil War Over Climate Change – Thursday, May 9, 2013. “And a quiet, but growing, number of other Republicans fear the same thing. Already, deep fissures are emerging between, on one side, a base of ideological voters and lawmakers with strong ties to powerful tea-party groups and super PACs funded by the fossil-fuel industry who see climate change as a false threat concocted by liberals to justify greater government control; and on the other side, a quiet group of moderates, younger voters, and leading conservative intellectuals who fear that if Republicans continue to dismiss or … Continue reading this post →

Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature – IOPscience. An examination of 11,944 peer-reviewed scientific studies & abstracts for discussion on the causes of global warming found that 97.1% of those studies that took a position on global warming supported the position that humans are causing climate change.  Only 2.9% expressed uncertainty or took positions against the theory that humans are causing global warming. There is more scientific consensus on this issue than on settled scientific issues like cigarettes causing cancer, but the media coverage portrays a broader scientific debate and 1/2 of our political parties in the … Continue reading this post →

Excellent video of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse addressing sadly real arguments against climate change science made by Republicans in our government, arguments like “God won’t let us destroy the Earth.” Video | Video and Audio | United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.