Climate 411

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

Carrots and Sticks – Marc Gunther posted a nuanced discussion of how organizations like NRDC and Environmental Defense Fund work with corporations. Rather than endorse or disparage the corporation as a whole, the focus is on the actions the corporation takes. Environmentally responsible actions are praised – even from a corporation that’s doing other things that aren’t so good. It’s an effective way to motivate change.

New Jobs and Affordable Energy – The Center for American Progress published a detailed and well-documented analysis of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act and how it would affect the economy. They say, "The bill would make significant reductions in the carbon dioxide pollution that causes global warming as well as turbo charge investments in clean energy technologies such as wind, solar, and geothermal. … The boost for renewable energy would create thousands of new jobs in the clean energy industry."

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

Here’s the quote of the week, from a New York Times Op-Ed piece:

Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have had carbon taxes in place since the 1990s, but the tax has not led to large declines in emissions in most of these countries – in the case of Norway, emissions have actually increased by 43 percent per capita.

This observation reinforces what we’ve been saying all along about why a carbon tax isn’t the right approach. A tax doesn’t guarantee lower emissions; a cap does.