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A few automotive thoughts, if I may… Ford’s newest vehicle, to be on the market later this year, is the C-Max: Aside from the atrocious name — are they now measuring corporate success by the number of cheap shots people take at their product names? — this looks like a winner in the ye olde marketplace. Somewhat . . . → Read More: Driving the future Yale 360 has an interview with Bill McKibben, with Elizabeth Kolbert asking the questions. They touch on Keystone XL, natural gas fracking, public policy, and more. The exchange that brought me up short (emphasis added): Kolbert: So it’s been more than 20 years since George Bush Sr. signed the “Framework Convention on Climate Change.” And . . . → Read More: Must-read McKibben interview There’s been remarkably little buzz about some news from the other day, so (after a gentle reminder from Sasparilla) I’m going to shine a light on it. The article hews right to the bone in the title, 2C warming target ‘out of reach’ – ex UN climate chief: The UN’s former climate chief on Tuesday said the global . . . → Read More: 2C of warming is a pipe dream Politicization of Science in the Public Sphere: A Study of Public Trust in the United States, 1974 to 2010 Abstract: This study explores time trends in public trust in science in the United States from 1974 to 2010. More precisely, I test Mooney’s (2005) claim that conservatives in the United States have become increasingly distrustful of science. Using . . . → Read More: It’s a trust issue, plus politics The Planet Under Pressure conference has issue a ten-page document that I urge everyone to read, titled “First State of the Planet Declaration”. The opening paragraphs: 1. Research now demonstrates that the continued functioning of the Earth system as it has supported the well-being of human civilization in recent centuries is at risk. Without urgent . . . → Read More: Must read: First State of the Planet Declaration So, one might ask oneself, just how urgent is our climate change situation? Surely it’s not, you know, time to panic or Global Warming Close to Becoming Irreversible: Scientific American: The world is close to reaching tipping points that will make it irreversibly hotter, making this decade critical in efforts to contain global warming, scientists warned on . . . → Read More: Simply irreversible There’s an essay by David Schlosberg, Professor of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney, making the rounds that I highly recommend. The latest place I stumbled across it is Michael Tobis’ Planet 3.0 site, where it appears as The End of the Enlightenment. Just a taste, to get you to click through and . . . → Read More: Energy, environment, enlightenment Joe Romm has some quotes from Ken Caldeira about the paper he recently co-authored on natural gas, and they’re eye-popping, at least to anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, or worse, believes any of the ads about natural gas the energy companies are using to carpet bomb US airwaves: I see natural gas as a bridge fuel; . . . → Read More: The siren call of natural gas  7 comments - (Comments are closed)  Climate change, Electricity, Natural gas, Public policy, Transportation James Hansen, a climate scientist who certainly needs no introduction to regular readers of this site, has given a TED talk about what motivates him to activism on climate change. I beg you to find 18 consecutive distraction-free minutes to watch this video of his talk: I wish we had many, many more people like Hansen . . . → Read More: What drives James Hansen (and should drive you, too) The New Republic has the latest incident from Santorumpalooza, the never ending saga of one Republican’s quest to return the US to some pre-Enlightenment state, Santorum: College Is For Losers: In the unlikely event that two of my earlier posts (“Santorum: Who Needs Public Education?” and “Horace Mann, Antichrist?”) left you wondering whether Santorum was positioning himself . . . → Read More: A stupid runs through it |
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