Climate Change

Grist recently published an excellent overview of Frances Moore's research on how much climate change is going to cost us: How much is climate change going to cost us? How much is it worth to avoid it? How do we figure that out? Well, first we develop models in the physical sciences that show how biophysical systems will react to changing levels of atmospheric gases. Then we feed that data into economic models, usually Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), to project the economic cost of a given change in temperature.

The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the U.S. government, alleging it has failed to release public documents revealing the extent and risks of offshore hydraulic fracturing by oil and gas companies in the Gulf of Mexico. “The public has a right to know where, when and how much fracking the federal government is allowing in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the center.

John Berger recently published a two-part review of Naomi Klein's book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (Simon & Schuster, 2014) on The Huffington Post: In the aftermath of the fractious recently concluded global climate talks in Lima, Peru, Naomi Klein's remarkable book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (Simon & Schuster, 2014) takes on new relevance for everyone yearning for solutions to the climate crisis.

When a gigantic threat is staring you in the face, and you can't act upon it, it's safe to assume there's some sort of mental blockage happening. So what's the hangup? That's what a new report from ecoAmerica and the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at Columbia University's Earth Institute -- entitled Connecting on Climate: A Guide to Effective Climate Change Communication -- seeks to help us better understand.

In December 2014, several Switzer Fellows attended the COP20 events in Lima, Peru, and we are proud to feature Sarah Lupberger's and Dave Kramer's thoughts on the event.

Electric utilities in the United States can expect an extra $12 billion a year in annual revenue by 2030 as heat waves increase the demand for air conditioning. Oil and gas companies may find it easier to drill in the Arctic, where sea ice is melting. But grocery manufacturers are shouldering hundreds of millions of dollars in unexpected costs as extreme weather disrupts their supply chains.

Solar panels glimmering in the sun are an icon of all that is green. But while generating electricity through photovoltaics is indeed better for the environment than burning fossil fuels, several incidents have linked the manufacture of these shining symbols of environmental virtue to a trail of chemical pollution. And it turns out that the time it takes to compensate for the energy used and the greenhouse gases emitted in photovoltaic panel production varies substantially by technology and geography.

America’s recovery from the Great Recession is slow but steady, President Barack Obama said in a recent speech, and the country is headed in the right direction, thanks in part to his energy initiatives. He told students at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tenn., on Jan. 9, 2015, the United States is now the world’s No. 1 producer in oil and gas -- a statement we’ve researched in the past and rated True -- and touted a move to more renewable resources. "We’ve doubled the production of clean energy," Obama told the crowd.

Along Oakland’s coast, 19 inches would wash over runways at Oakland International Airport, railway lines and roads that lead to the Port of Oakland and some of the treatment facilities at the vast wastewater treatment plant in West Oakland.