News Roundup
‘THERE is a time for weighing evidence and a time for acting. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my work in finance, government and conservation, it is to act before problems become too big to manage.’
via Lessons for Climate Change in the 2008 Recession – NYTimes.com.
‘Lord Stern, who wrote a hugely influential review on the financial implications of climate change in 2006, says the economic models that have been used to calculate the fiscal fallout from climate change are woefully inadequate and severely underestimate the scale of the threat.’
‘ANAHEIM, Calif. — President Obama, appearing emboldened after his recent move to cut carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, on Saturday ridiculed members of Congress who deny climate change or plead scientific ignorance as an alibi for avoiding an uncomfortable truth.’
via At Commencement, Obama Mocks Lawmakers Who Deny Climate Change – NYTimes.com.
‘President Barack Obama on Saturday renewed his call to curb carbon emissions, saying the scientific debate on climate change is over and announcing a nearly $1 billion competition to fund measures coping with the effects of extreme weather.’
via President Obama Renews Call to Combat Climate Change – WSJ.
‘By an almost two-to-one margin, 62 percent to 33 percent, Americans say they would pay more for energy if it would mean a reduction in pollution from carbon emissions, according to the Bloomberg National Poll.’
via Americans by 2 to 1 Would Pay More to Curb Climate Change – Bloomberg.
‘David Brat, the Virginia economics professor and tea partier who just beat House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a Republican primary, is a staunch libertarian. And these days, that doesn’t just mean thinking the free market should run most things, from the energy sector to healthcare. It also often means denying the reality of global warming.’
via Why David Brat is Completely Wrong About Climate Science | Mother Jones.
‘Chile’s government rejected an $8 billion proposal to dam Patagonian rivers to meet the country’s growing energy demands, handing a victory to environmentalists who praised Tuesday’s ruling as a landmark moment.’
via Chile Rejects $8 Billion Dam Project in Patagonia – ABC News.
‘(Reuters) – China’s hints that it will cap its soaring greenhouse gas emissions and a U.S. plan to cut emissions in the power sector, while representing a shift, do not add up to a strong cure for global warming by the world’s top two emitters.’
via Chinese hints, U.S. emission cuts fall far short of climate cure | Reuters.
Spoiler alert – here’s the conclusion of Krugman’s op-ed: ‘…The new carbon policy, then, is supposed to be the beginning, not the end, a domino that, once pushed over, should start a chain reaction that leads, finally, to global steps to limit climate change. Do we know that it will work? Of course not. But it’s vital that we try.’
‘…Coal mining in the Powder River Basin, which straddles Montana and Wyoming, has been economical only since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began regulating sulphur dioxide in 1990; coal from eastern states is far more sulphurous. But a new rule from the EPA may be less well received here; on June 2nd it unveiled a proposal to cut emissions of carbon dioxide from power plants, which account for 39% of overall emissions, by 30% from their 2005 level by 2030.’
via Climate policy and the future of coal: Obama’s green gamble | The Economist.