The High Cost of Global Warming

Check out this excerpt from a New York Times article:

James E. Rogers, chief executive of Duke Energy, a coal-burning utility in the Midwest and the Southeast, has emerged as an unexpected advocate of federal regulation that would for the first time impose a cost for emitting carbon dioxide. But he has his reasons.

“Climate change is real, and we clearly believe we are on a route to mandatory controls on carbon dioxide,” Mr. Rogers said. “And we need to start now because the longer we wait, the more difficult and expensive this is going to be.”

Suprene Court Hears Climate Change Case

The U.S. Supreme Court heard a case on climate change today. The court heard arguments in a case to determine whether the Environmental Protection Agency should regulate emissions of carbon dioxide as a pollutant. Rulings aren't expected until next summer. The suit is being brought by 12 states, some cities, and other groups. Read an account of the oral arguments here. Read an analysis in the New York Times here.

Solar Brightening and Climate Change

How much global warming is attributable to the sun's rays becoming brighter? It could be a factor in climate change, even though the primary cause is most likely greenhouse gasses. Read about it in Grist

Progress at UN Climate Change Conference?

Was there progress at the UN Climate Change Conference in Kenya that wrapped Nov. 17? It depends who you ask. An article in the Epoch Times International cites an agreement that greenhouse gasses need to be cut 50% as a breakthrough. Forbes sees the glass as half-full at best. Read both stories to get a fuller picture.

Energy Companies Deal with Climate Change

The times, they are a changin'. Major energy firms are seeking federal caps on greenhouse emissions, believing that it will be easier for them that way than dealing with a patchwork of state and regional regularions. Exxon Mobil Corp., the highest-profile corporate skeptic about global warming, said in September that it was considering ending its funding of a think tank that has sought to cast doubts on climate change. Read about it in the Washington Post.

This story mentions regional regulations passed by several Northeastern States, Including Connecticut, and the new Boulder Colorado "green tax" mentioned an a post earlier this month on Eco-Justice Blog.

Underground CO2 Use

This is a story about the use of CO2 to retrieve oil from oil wells. Environmentalists and the oil industry have clashed on this in the past but now may find common ground. It is full of insider jargon but if you have been following the debate about sequestering greenhouse gasses underground, you may find this of interest. Read the full story here.

Renewable Energy on Talk of the Nation

A new report from the Rand Corp. suggests the United States can get 25 percent of it energy from renewables such as wind and ethanol by the year 2025. The guest, Senior Rand Corp. Economist Mike Toman, used to sing in the church choir at Bethesda United Church of Christ with me. This segment aired Friday, November 17. Listen to the segment here.

Pollution as a drastic solution to global warming

At the UN Conference on Climate Change in Nairobi, Kenya, a group of scientists discussed their drastic short-term fix for climate change--spewing enough pollution to draw a "shade" over the sun temporarily. The Nobel Prize-winning scientist who first made the proposal is himself ''not enthusiastic about it.''
''It was meant to startle the policy makers,'' said Paul J. Crutzen, of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. ''If they don't take action much more strongly than they have in the past, then in the end we have to do experiments like this.''

Read the full story here.