Climate 411

Why Switch to Compact Fluorescents?

In case you haven’t noticed, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs, for short) have been in the news lately. Environmental Defense, along with scores of other environmental organizations, have been encouraging folks to switch their old-fashioned incandescent lightbulbs for CFLs. Australia has mandated that incandescents be phased out completely [PDF], and California is considering similar legislation. Here’s why.

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Encroaching Sea Haiku

In South Pacific
Two islands, encroaching sea,
Life as known is lost.*


*Kiribati and Tuvalu, two inhabited islands near two uninhabited islands that have already sunk, are preparing for disaster.

    

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Teaching Teachers about Climate Change

In my 30 years as a university professor before coming to Environmental Defense (2 years ago today!), I gave a lot of lectures in a lot of classrooms. But last Thursday I had one of the strangest lecture experiences of my professional life.

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TXU Buyout tied to Environmental Agreement

Guest blogger Jim Marston is an attorney, and the Director of the Energy Program in the Texas Office of Environmental Defense.

Who would have thought that, almost a month to the day after the USCAP initiative was announced, coal-enamored TXU would come on board? But today’s big news is victory in Texas, thanks to an unusual buyout agreement.

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A Climate Change Haiku

Glaciers in Andes mountains
frozen for 5000 years
now melting.

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This Week's Ignoratio Elenchi Award

ignoratio elenchi n.
A logical fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but has nothing to do with the proposition it purports to prove. Also known as “irrelevant conclusion”. [Lat. ignorance of refutation.]

On Monday, an article appeared in the Washington Times that offers so many outrageous examples of the logical fallacy of irrelevant conclusion (formally, ignoratio elenchi) that I’m beginning a new series of posts – the Ignoratio Elenchi Awards – for the most flagrantly misleading arguments against curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

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