| June 2006
Climate Change | Energy | Environment
D1 - What to Do About Climate Change
Bell, Ruth Greenspan
Foreign Affairs, May/June 2006, v85, #3, pp105-113
”Despite mounting evidence of the seriousness of climate change, the problem remains a low policy priority for most countries. Yet action is urgently needed. Emissions-trading regimes, which do too little to cap pollution, must be revised. And any new strategies must be customized to the particular needs and means of those states, developed and developing alike, that will have to implement them.” Ruth Greenspan Bell is a Resident Scholar and Director of International Institutional Development and Environmental Assistance at Resources for the Future, in Washington, D.C .
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D2 - Temperature Rising
Schulte, Bret
U.S. News & World Report, May 5, 2006, v140, #21, pp36-43
“According to scientists at the University of Washington,
the Pacific Northwest has gotten warmer by 1.5 degrees since 1900,
about a half-degree higher than the global average. Over the past
two years, the problem has snapped into focus.” Moving away from
fixing the problem through cutting emissions, this U.S. News cover
story focuses on a new approach to deal with the inevitable changes
of global warming which is adapting to a warmer climate.” Schulte
discusses the consequences of climate change and the controversial
concept of adaptation. Bret Schulte is a reporter for U.S.
News & World Report. Fulltext
D3 - Scare of the Century
Steorts, Jasen Lee
National Review, June 5, 2006, v58,#10, pp35-38
The author discusses recent reports on global warming that
he believes exaggerates scientific data for political purposes.
He offers evidence from various scientific studies that suggest
that variations in the surface temperature of Earth are due to
natural cycles of climate change. Jason Lee Steorts is
National Review’s deputy managing editor. Fulltext
D4 - Case Closed: The Debate about Global Warming is Over
Easterbrook, Greg
The Brookings Institution, May 2006, online edition, 14p
"Here's the short version of everything you need to know about global warming. First, the consensus of the scientific community has shifted from skepticism to near-unanimous acceptance of the evidence of an artificial greenhouse effect. Second, while artificial climate change may have some beneficial effects, the odds are we're not going to like it. Third, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases may turn out to be much more practical and affordable than currently assumed." Gregg Easterbrook is a visiting Fellow in Governance Studies and Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. Fulltext
D5 - Fueling Our Future
Shaw, Jonathan
Harvard Magazine, May-June 2006, online edition, 10p
"Our demand for energy, on which we depend for health and prosperity, rises all the time: oil and natural gas to heat our homes; electricity for lights, refrigeration, computers, and televisions; gasoline and diesel for our cars and trucks... The consequent global warming is already linked to a pattern of record floods, droughts, heat, and other extreme weather events around the globe, and is expected to lead to extinctions of some plants and animals. But such news from the natural world has done little to galvanize political will. Even forecasts of disastrous effects for the human sphere—severe drought in parts of Africa and Europe in the next century, and rising sea levels worldwide that will someday drown major cities—have thus far failed to mobilize public action in the United States. The time to act is running short. As the climate warms and energy use grows, Harvard researchers project growing dependence on coal—and an innovative solution to the daunting challenge of using it benignly." Jonathan Shaw is Managing Editor of the Harvard Magazine. Fulltext
D6 - Timberlands in Turmoil
Little. Jane Braxton
American Forests, Winter 2006, v111, #4, online edition
Today America's forests include 504 million acres considered productive timberlands. The U.S. Forest Service and other government agencies own and manage around 29 percent, according to the Heinz Center for Economics and the Environment. The rest belongs to 10 million different private owners ranging from lone individuals to International Paper, whose 6.8 million acres make it the nation's largest forests-products company.” The private owners are mostly timber investment management organizations. “These so-called TIMOs invest money for institutional clients and wealthy individuals seeking to diversify their portfolios. […] For America's timberlands, the implications of this rush to divestiture are enormous.” Jane Braxton Little is a contributing editor of American Forests.
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D7 - Urban Watershed Management
Platt, Rutherford H.
Environment, May 2006, v48, #4, pp26-42
The author asserts that modern cities have tended to cut
the bonds between humans and the natural world. At the same time
they have had a growing adverse impact on their natural surroundings.
This has had an enormous impact on regional watersheds, from artificial
drainage, channels and floodwalls, to increased impervious cover,
which alters the local stream hydrology and increases flood hazards.
Platt notes that the urban proportion of the world's population
is projected to be 60 percent within a generation. Therefore,
overcoming this "human/nature apartheid" is critical
in making urban environments more sustainable. The article features
successful urban watershed management programs in Washington,
D.C., Boston, Houston, and Portland, Oregon. Rutherford H.
Platt is Professor of geography and planning law in the Department
of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
In addition, he directs the Ecological Cities Project, a national
program of research and outreach based at the University of Massachusetts.
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D8 - Air Pollution and Health. Do Popular Portrayals Reflect the Scientific Evidence?
Schwartz, Joel
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research,
Environmental Policy Outlook, #2, 2006, 12p
”Environmentalists, regulators, health scientists, and journalists
are the main purveyors of information on air pollution health
risks. Unfortunately, these groups create the appearance that
harm from air pollution is much greater and more certain than
suggested by the underlying evidence. The incentives in air pollution
health research encourage risk exaggeration, because information
purveyors depend on public fear to maintain their funding and
influence. Investigative reporters are in the best position to
assess how the political economy of environmental health research
affects the production and portrayal of the evidence. Public debate
on air pollution will continue to proceed from false premises
until journalists take up this challenge.” Joel Schwartz is
Visiting Fellow at AEI. Fulltext
D9 - When Scientists Politicize Science
Pielke Roger A. Jr.
Regulation, Spring 2006, v29, #1, pp28-34
”In recent years and in different countries, combatants on
opposing sides of highly contentious debates related to the environment,
medicine, and even national security have frequently asserted
that science compels their favored political perspective. Whether
the subject is global warming, genetically modified organisms,
or even the existence of weapons of mass destruction, it is not
surprising to observe advocates selectively using and misusing
‘science’ to advance their firmly held positions.” In his article,
Pielke suggests “instead of claiming there is just one policy
response to a given issue, scientists should provide a range of
options for policymakers. Roger A. Pielke Jr. is Professor
of environmental science at the University of Colorado and Fellow
of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental
Sciences (CIRES). Fulltext
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