Climate 411

Climate Debate Blossoming, But Will it Bear Fruit?

Tony KreindlerThis post is by Tony Kreindler, Media Director for the National Climate Campaign at Environmental Defense Fund.

Operation Climate Vote

This post is part of a series on the work of the Environmental Defense Action Fund to enact an effective climate law. You can help by writing to Congress.

We’re closer than ever to passing national climate legislation:

  • Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) predicts a Senate floor vote in June.
  • House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) signals he’ll circulate a bill in April.
  • House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) says there’s a 50-50 chance of passing climate legislation this year.

But we need to maintain grassroots pressure to keep legislators focused on the need to pass a bill this year.

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Posted in News / Comments are closed

Why a Bill in 2008: The World is Waiting

Tony KreindlerThis post is by Tony Kreindler, Media Director for the National Climate Campaign at Environmental Defense Fund. It’s the fourth in a series on Why a Bill in 2008:

 

1. Same Politics in 2009
2. Good versus Perfect
3. The Price of Waiting
4. The World is Waiting
5. Best Answer to High Gas Prices


Why push for a climate bill in 2008? I’ve already given some important reasons in my previous posts: the politics will be much the same in 2009, we don’t want to squander the current momentum, and in any case, we simply can’t afford to wait.

But if those aren’t reason enough, here’s another: The world is waiting for us to act. To solve the global warming problem, China and other developing countries also must cap their emissions, and they won’t do this until our own cap is in place.

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Posted in Climate Change Legislation / Read 6 Responses

Interviews with EDF President Fred Krupp

Sheryl CanterThis post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

Last week I wrote about the TreeHugger interview with EDF President Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn about their new book. Earth: The Sequel is an engaging look at emerging technology in the fight to stop global warming.

Fred has been getting around quite a bit lately. This week he also was interviewed by Forbes, Newsweek, and Mercury News. Each had a slightly different focus. Here are some excerpts:

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Posted in Energy / Comments are closed

How Much Will It Cost to Save the World?

Tony KreindlerThis post is by Tony Kreindler, Media Director for the National Climate Campaign at Environmental Defense Fund.

Last week, two reports came out that look at how much it will cost to drastically reduce the pollution that causes global warming. Both used economic models to project how the growth rate would change. One used a realistic set of assumptions, and the other stacked the deck with extreme assumptions.

But both of them look at only one half of the real question. They ask “How much will it cost?” (Answer: Surprisingly little). But we also have to ask, “What do we get in return for that investment?”

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Posted in Economics / Read 3 Responses

10 Surprising Numbers: Where the Money Goes

Sheryl CanterThis post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

Earth: The Sequel, the new book by EDF President Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn, is filled with interesting facts. Here are ten numbers that may surprise you.

Government Dollars

China spends 200 times more on solar energy than does the U.S., and the U.S. spends six times more on subsidies to the gas and oil industries than it does on renewable energy research. Hmmm…

  • $6 billion – Amount the federal government gives to the oil and gas industries each year in subsidies and tax benefits, page 11.
  • $1 billion – Amount the federal government spends each year on research into renewable sources of energy (this is less than ExxonMobil earns in a single day), page 11.
  • $200 billion – Amount China has committed to invest in utility-scale solar power, page 65.

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Posted in News / Read 1 Response

Do-It-Yourself Policy Simulation

Sheryl CanterThis post is by Sheryl Canter, an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

There’s no longer any serious disagreement about our need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to stop global warming. The debate now is about the best way to go about it. Opponents claim that the cost of adopting a cap-and-trade system would be ruinous to the U.S. economy. Leading economists who have studied the issue say that’s wrong.

Now you can decide for yourself. Yale economics professor Robert Repetto synthesized the results of thousands of policy simulations from 25 economic models to identify the seven key assumptions that account for most of the differences in the models’ predictions. He then used this information to create a new Web site that allows you to choose your own assumptions.

Yale Model Results

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Posted in Economics / Comments are closed