Real Climate has a brief post comparing the temperature projections contained in a paper in Science from 1981 [1] to what actually happened, showing that the projections underestimated actual warming from greenhouse gas emissions by about 30%. It’s still good agreement for a long-term forecast, and it shows
Read moreIn a blog post published on April 12, 2012, Dan Lashof of NRDC makes it clear that we’ll run out of the earth’s ability to absorb greenhouse gases long before we run out of fossil fuels. In this blog post I’ll show why he’s exactly right.
Read moreAs I discussed here, the EPA announced in March that they would be promulgating new rules on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with new power plants that would effectively prohibit construction of new conventional coal plants without carbon capture and storage. Such plants were already feeling pressure from cheap natural
Read moreOne of my professors in graduate school, John Holdren, had a goal of writing a paper out of every talk he gave. Neither he nor I always accomplished that goal, but his advice stuck with me as something to which to aspire. After I gave my talk on computing trends
Read moreI gave a talk on the implications of the trends in the energy efficiency of computing at the VERGE conference in Arlington, VA on March 15, 2012. I just received the video and have embedded it below. It’s what the VERGE folks call a “one great idea” talk, and
Read moreDave Roberts has posted a cogent summary of the key implications of the new EPA rule related to new coal plants. These points follow: 1. This rule applies to new power plants, not existing or currently permitted plants, meaning it won’t have any real effect until well after the
Read moreThis is big news. The Washington Post is reporting that the Obama Administration is about to propose regulations on new power plants that would limit greenhouse gas emissions per kWh. Juliet Eilperin writes The Environmental Protection Agency will issue the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants
Read moreMichael Tobis (with help from Stephen Ban) posted a wonderful schematic graph back in January 2012 contrasting the state of media coverage about climate with what informed opinion actually says. It’s not intended to be quantitatively accurate, but I think it conveys things pretty well, based on my experience
Read moreThe New Earth Archive opened voting for the most “powerful and influential books on topics like climate change, sociology, economics, politics, technology, philosophy, and many, many other areas.” They are asking for “help in choosing the 25 that have the power to inspire college readers to change the world,” based
Read moreRocky Mountain Institute (RMI), where I am affiliated as a Senior Fellow, just posted my short summary of key arguments from Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs. For the full post, go here.
Read moreThat’s the question Dan Lashof of NRDC leads with in his review of Cold Cash, Cool Climate. Lashof has published extensively on climate science and policy, so I was happy he chose to review the book. Here are the first few paragraphs of the review: “Entrepreneurs have to be
Read moreIntel’s chip chat podcast recently featured an interview with me that focuses in part on the book Cold Cash, Cool Climate, and the implications of that book for entrepreneurial innovation in information technology (IT). In that interview I summarize the three areas where IT can help us reduce emissions,
Read moreMatt Wheeland of Greenbiz.com did a thoughtful Q&A with me about my new book that was posted yesterday. I reproduce the first question and answer below. Why entrepreneurs offer the best hope as climate heroes Matthew Wheeland: Why are entrepreneurs the best hope for this scale of
Read moreThis blog post summarizes the overall argument in Jonathan Koomey’s latest book, Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs, released today (February 15, 2012) by Analytics Press. Written for entrepreneurs and investors, this book describes how to profit from tackling climate change, one of this century’
Read moreIn discussions about the climate issue, I’ve often heard the argument that no one, including the government, has a right to interfere in the disposition of private property. In essence, supporters of this view believe in unrestricted property rights and place great faith in their sanctity. This position is
Read more