It’s Not Too Late to Limit Global Temperatures - But Almost
For a couple of years now, climate scientists have agreed that to avoid the most serious consequences of global warming we need to cap the planet’s average temperature at no more than 2 degrees C (or 3.6°F) above where it stood in the 1800s. The temperature has already risen by about 1°C -- the longer we wait to rein in greenhouse-gas emissions, th… Read More
China & U.S. Hold the Key to New Global Climate Deal
China and the U.S. are to be the clear focus of the next year of climate change negotiations, following a hard-fought climate conference that ended in Doha on Saturday night. The world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases hold the key to forging a new global agreement on climate change, that for the first time would bind both developed and d… Read More
How Safe Are America’s 2.5 Million Miles of Pipelines?
At 6:11 p.m. on September 6, 2010, San Bruno, California 911 received an urgent call. A gas station had just exploded and a fire with flames reaching 300 feet was raging through the neighborhood. The explosion was so large that residents suspected an airplane crash. But the real culprit was found underground: a ruptured pipeline spewing natural gas… Read More
Doha Climate Talks: What to Expect
Doha has a special place in the history of diplomacy. Talks started there in 2001 under the World Trade Organisation, aimed at solving trade barriers that penalise the poor. The Doha round dragged on to 2008 without conclusion and is now in limbo. Doha is a byword for stalemate and failure. So when the United Nations chose the Qatari capital as the… Read More
More than 1,000 New Coal Plants Planned Worldwide
More than 1,000 coal-fired power plants are being planned worldwide, new research has revealed. The huge planned expansion comes despite warnings from politicians, scientists, and campaigners that the planet's fast-rising carbon emissions must peak within a few years if runaway climate change is to be avoided and that fossil fuel assets risk … Read More
Emissions Trading Used to Subsidize Overseas Rivals
Some of the companies that have complained loudest about the European Union's environmental measures are using the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS) to give money to rivals in other countries instead of cutting their own greenhouse gas emissions, it has emerged. A report by Sandbag, a non-governmental organization that examines carbon trading, f… Read More
Report: Coal Plants Smothering Communities of Color
Coal plants place a disproportionate burden on poor and largely minority communities, exposing residents to high levels of pollutants that affect public health, according to a new report led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).… Read More
Obama Affirms Support for Action on Climate Change
Obama reaffirmed his view that manmade emissions of greenhouse gases are contributing to global warming, and stated his intent to continue to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “I am a firm believer that climate change is real, that it is impacted by human behavior and carbon emissions, he said, noting that “We have an obligation to f… Read More
