Reservoirs are underappreciated source of greenhouse gases

By Eric Sorensen28 September 2016 VANCOUVER, Washington (WSU News) – Washington State University researchers say the world’s reservoirs are an underappreciated source of greenhouse gases, producing the equivalent of roughly 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide a year, or 1.3 percent of all greenhouse gases produced by humans. That’s more greenhouse gas production than all of […]

Global economy could ‘self-destruct’ if world carries on burning fossil fuels, leading economist warns

By Ian Johnston5 October 2016 (Independent) – A renowned economist who helped persuade the world to start taking climate change seriously has warned the global economy could “self-destruct” if countries fail to ditch fossil fuels and embrace a clean, green, high-tech future. Professor Lord Nicholas Stern was credited with bringing about a sea change in […]

Ontario government scraps plan for $3.8 billion in renewable energy projects

By Rob Ferguson27 September 2016 (The Star) – Ontario is blowing off plans for more wind and solar power as it feels the heat over high electricity bills less than two years before a provincial election. In its latest effort to curb prices, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government is axing plans to sign another $3.8 billion […]

Pro-nuclear countries making slower progress on climate targets

By James Hakner22 August 2016 (University of Sussex) – A strong national commitment to nuclear energy goes hand in hand with weak performance on climate change targets, researchers at the University of Sussex and the Vienna School of International Studies have found. A new study of European countries, published in the journal Climate Policy, shows […]

Is natural gas a viable bridge fuel?

[cf. Our leaders thought fracking would save our climate – ‘Methane emissions are substantially higher than we’ve understood’] By Zeke Hausfather23 August 2016 (Yale Climate Connections) – For the past century, coal has been king, providing the majority of U.S. energy for electricity generation. But a combination of new federal and state environmental policies and […]

Clean energy won’t save us – only a new economic system can

By Jason Hickel15 July 2016 (Guardian) – Earlier this year, media outlets around the world announced that February had broken global temperature records by a shocking amount. March broke all the records too. In June, our screens were covered with surreal images of flooding in Paris, the Seine bursting its banks and flowing into the […]

Amid epic drought, villagers bitter over Zimbabwe ethanol plant

By Andrew Mambondiyani28 July 2016 (mongabay.com) – Lyben Minyizeya’s homestead in Chisumbanje in eastern Zimbabwe resembles a dumpsite for disused tractors and other agricultural equipment. The broken and rusty machinery reminds him of the good old farming days. In this farming community near the border with Mozambique, it is sizzling hot in summer. Baobab, acacia, […]

China coal use has peaked ‘sooner than expected’

[Des has been skeptical of claims that China’s coal consumption has declined and/or peaked, but Des may be convinced now, largely due to the presence of Prof. Nicholas Stern on this paper.] By Shreya Dasgupta27 July 2016 (mongabay.com) – China is the largest consumer of coal in the world. It is also the world’s biggest […]

Oil lobby paid Washington Post and Atlantic to host climate-change deniers at the Republican National Convention

By Alex Emmons22 July 2016 (The Intercept) – At the award-winning seafood restaurant in downtown Cleveland that The Atlantic rented out for the entire four-day Republican National Convention, GOP Rep. Bill Johnson turned to me and explained that solar panels are not a viable energy source because “the sun goes down.” Johnson had just stepped […]

Hooked! The unyielding grip of fossil fuels on global life – ‘In 2040, fossil fuels will still have a grip on a staggering 78 percent of the world energy market’

By Michael T. Klare14 July 2016 (TomDispatch) – Here’s the good news: wind power, solar power, and other renewable forms of energy are expanding far more quickly than anyone expected, ensuring that these systems will provide an ever-increasing share of our future energy supply.  According to the most recent projections from the Energy Information Administration […]

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