Climate 411

The Path to Green Business Practices

The author of today’s post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

Why should your company take action to fight global warming? Shareholders want progress, investors are calling for transparency, national policy is coming, and waiting to act will be costly.

To help you get started, Environmental Defense has developed a hierarchy of effective actions called the "Four Cs" – conserve energy, convert to lower carbon energy, choose quality offsets, and call for action.

Here are the details.

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Posted in News / Read 3 Responses

States and Cities Lead the Way

The author of today’s post, Derek Walker, is the Deputy Director of the State Climate Campaign at Environmental Defense.

We need federal legislation to solve the global warming crisis – there’s no doubt about that. But state and local governments don’t have to sit around waiting while the federal debate goes on – and many aren’t. States and cities across the country are taking the lead on a wide range of climate issues, demonstrating the political courage and policy innovation needed to protect our planet from the most dangerous effects of global warming.

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The Energy Bills Are Not Enough

The author of today’s post, Sheryl Canter, is an Online Writer and Editorial Manager at Environmental Defense.

The energy bills passed by the House and Senate may have you thinking you can relax about climate change, but think again. These bills have some important provisions and we hope they pass, but a new analysis [PDF] by Environmental Defense shows that they don’t solve the global warming problem. Even if the best fuel-saving and renewable energy provisions in the bills were combined in conference committee, greenhouse emissions would continue to rise for the next three decades.

This underscores the urgent need for this Congress to pass comprehensive climate change legislation that reduces emissions far below today’s levels.

Energy Bills Analysis

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Posted in Climate Change Legislation / Read 1 Response

A New Hub for Climate Change Info

The author of today’s post, Lisa Moore, Ph.D., is a scientist in the Climate and Air program.

Here’s something to complement the climate change reading list and list of links that Bill posted a while back.

The folks who publish the journal Nature have just launched Nature Reports: Climate Change, an information hub that brings together research, news, analysis, and commentary. It also links to the blog Nature launched last April, Climate Feedback.

I’ve taken a quick tour, and it looks promising. What do you think?

Posted in What Others are Saying / Read 2 Responses

A Level-Headed Look at Ethanol and the Environment

The author of today’s post, Martha Roberts, is an economist at Environmental Defense, and one of the authors of the Ogallala Aquifer study.

Today Environmental Defense released a new mini-report that analyzes how expanding ethanol production might impact the environment: Potential Impacts of Biofuels Expansion on Natural Resources: A Case Study of the Ogallala Aquifer Region [PDF].

Ethanol arouses a lot of passion in people. Our goal was to produce a report that is balanced, meticulously documented, and offers solutions to potential problems.

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Posted in Cars and Pollution, Energy / Read 1 Response

Dengue Fever Spreading in Texas

The author of today’s post, John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., is Chief Health Scientist at Environmental Defense.

In the past when I gave talks about dengue fever, I’d say it was a problem in Mexico, but relatively rare over the border in Texas. I need to update my slides. Following an outbreak of dengue fever in Brownsville, Texas, health investigators found that 38 percent of the town was at risk for the most dangerous form of the illness.

This is a big deal, and global warming may well play a role.

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Posted in Health / Read 3 Responses