Posted September 8, 2009
Climate Change | Energy | Environment
Copenhagen's Inconvenient Truth: How to Salvage the Climate Conference
Levi, Michael A.
Foreign Affairs, September/October 2009, v88,#5, pp92-104
"The December Copenhagen conference is unlikely to solve the problem of climate change once and for all. So rather than aim for a broad international treaty right away, negotiators should bolster existing national policies and seek targeted measures that can deliver cuts in emissions in both rich nations and the developing world."
Michael A. Levi is David Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. Fulltext D1/05-09
The Other Climate Changers
Seddon Wallack, Jessica; Ramamathan, Veerabhdran
Foreign Affairs, September/October 2009, September/October 2009, v88, #5, pp105-113
"Most initiatives to slow global warning involve reducing carbon Dioxide emissions. Little Attention has been given to reducing emissions of the light-absorbing particles known as "black carbon" or the gases that form ozone --even though doing so would be easier and cheaper and would have a more immediate effect."
Jessica Seddon Walleck is Director of the Center for Development Finance at the Institute for Financial Management Research, in Chennai, India. Veerabhdran Ramamathan is Distinguished Professor of Climate and Atmospheric Sciences at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Fulltext D2/05-09
The Low-Carbon Diet
Kurtzman, Joel
Foreign Affairs, September/October 2009, September/October 2009, v88, #5, pp114-122
"The Free market has eliminated environmental hazards in the past, from leaded gas to acid rain, and it can solve the problem of climate change today. A cap-and-trade system --not a carbon tax or government initiatives to spur technological innovation -- offers the best hope for reducing pollution and encouraging green growth. "
Joel Kurtzman is a Senior Fellow at the Milken Institute and Executive Director of its Save program or alternative energy, climate change, and energy security. Fulltext D3/05-09
Climate Competition Heats Up
Kriz, Margaret
National Journal, August 8, 2009, v 41,#32-34, pp16-22
"The House-passed climate change bills is too green to pass the Senate. It's not too green, though to be widely accepted as a starting point in that Chamber's discussions. With floor action possible this fall, industry forces are hoping to strike the best deals that they can."
Margaret Kriz covers energy and environmental issues for 'National Journal'. Fulltext D4/05-09
Climate Change Mitigation: Considering Lifestyle Options in Europe and the US
Schuetzenmeister, Falk
European Union Center of Excellence, University of California, Berkeley, August 27, 2009, 12p
"This report summarizes the presentations and outcomes of a European-
American Workshop about lifestyle changes as a mitigation strategies for global warming. [...] Both a merely individualist interpretation of lifestyles (“green consumption”) and a rather socio-structural view (“green milieus”) are not well-geared to explain the often observed discrepancies between environmental attitudes and people’s action. Lifestyle research must address this gap by explaining individual decisions within societal contexts that provide but also limit the possibilities of lifestyle changes. Despite these difficulties, the huge appeal of the lifestyle approach that makes the work on these problems worthwhile is the prominent role of the term “lifestyle” in the public and political discourse about environmental change. However, many policy attempts to influence lifestyles are barely grounded in sociological grounded theories of social change.
Falk Schuetzenmeister works at the European Union Center of Excellence, University of California, Berkeley. Fulltext D5/05-09
Taking Up the Security Challenge of Climate Change
Parsons, Rymn J.
Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Department of Defense, August 2009, online edition, 26p
"Climate change, in which man-made global warming is a major factor, will likely have dramatic and long lasting consequences with profound security implications, making it a challenge the United States must urgently take up. The security implications will be most pronounced in places where the effects of climate change are greatest, particularly affecting weak states already especially vulnerable to environmental destabilization."
Rymn J. Parsons is Assistant Counsel to and Environmental Practice Team Leader for Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, located at Naval Station, Norfolk, VA. Also a Navy Reservist, with the rank of captain, he is Staff Judge Advocate to Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Reserve Component Command. Fulltext D6/05-09
Double Jeopardy: What the Climate Crisis Means for the Poor
LaFleur, Vinca; Purvis, Nigel; Jones, Abigail
co-chairs : Blum, Richard C.; Brainard, Lael; Talbott, Strobe
Brookings Global Economy & Development, August 2009, 44p (PDF)
"The global development and climate change communities must do more than learn from each other; they must work with each other to succeed—or risk failure apart. For choices surrounding climate will greatly determine the fate of the poor, just as choices on the path out of poverty will greatly influence the fate of the climate. Increasingly, climate and development are two sides of the same coin.” (Lael Brainard )
Lael Brainard is Vice President and Director at the Brookings Global Economy and Development. Vinca LaFleur is Partner, West Wing Writers.
Nigel Purvis is a Nonresident Brookings Scholar on Environment and Development, Foreign Policy; President, Climate Advisers Inc. Abigail Jones is a Research Analyst. Fulltext D7/05-09
The Peak Oil Debate
Graefe, Laurel
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, August 2009, online edition, 16p
"For the past half-century, a debate has raged over when “peak oil” will occur, the point at which output can no longer increase and production begins to level off or gradually decline. Determining how long the oil supply will last has become even more pressing because the world’s energy supply still relies heavily on oil, and global energy demand is expected to rise steeply over the next twenty years. The report focuses on the debate." Laurel Graefe is a Senior Economic Research Analyst in the Atlanta Fed’s research department. Fulltext D8/05-09
Energy and Climate Change: Should Carbon-Based Fuels Be Phased Out?
Clemmitt, Marcia
CQ Researcher, July 24, 2009, v19, #26, pp621-644
"Congress and the Obama administration are advancing policies directly aimed — for the first time — at cutting emissions from burning carbon fuels. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions, which scientists link to global warming. The House recently passed a comprehensive energy bill that would institute a “cap-and-trade” system imposing an increasingly tight cap on carbon emissions by requiring polluters such as electric-power companies to buy emission permits or switch to cleaner energy sources. The legislation is backed by most major energy and environmental groups. Some critics say the bill is fatally flawed, however, partly because the trading market in which big carbon-emitting companies may buy unused pollution permits will make carbon-fuel prices too unpredictable and open to manipulation."
Staff Writer Marcia Clemmitt is a veteran social-policy reporter who previously served as editor in chief of 'Medicine & Health' and staff writer for the 'Scientist'. Order article D9/05-09
Fueling the "Balance": A Defense Energy Strategy Primer
Warner, Jerry; Warren Singer, Peter
Brookings Institute,
August 25, 2009, online edition, 13p
"Whether you believe global climate change is caused by human-driven carbon
emissions or unicorn flatulence, it is inarguable that the issue of energy is an
enormous national security concern. Our nation's dependency on nonrenewable and
often foreign sources of energy does everything from bolster the power of
illiberal regimes that control oil reserves to indirectly finance terrorist
groups." This report argues that our nation needs a defense energy strategy because of simple military pragmatism."
Jerry Warner is a former combat officer and now a small businessman engaged in the development of alternative energy systems. In his personal capacity, he served as a member of the Obama ’08 defense policy task force. Peter Warren Singer is Director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution. Fulltext D10/05-09
Fifty-Year Record of Glacier Reveals Shifting Climate in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, USA
U.S. Geological Survey, August 2009, online edition, various paging
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This report shows that glaciers are dramatically changing in mass, length and thickness as a result of climate change. Over the past 50 years, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists have monitored the melting of Alaska’s Gulkana and Wolverine Glaciers and Washington’s South Cascade Glacier, yielding the longest such records in North America." Fulltext D11/05-09
Climate Change & National Wildlife: A Survival for a Warming World
National Parks Conservation Association, August 2009, online edition, 60p
"The effects of climate change have been visible for years in our national parks. Glaciers are disappearing faster than scientists had predicted even a few years ago. Native trees and animals are losing ground because changing temperature and weather patterns are making the availability of food,water, and shelter less certain. Fish and wildlife are being driven from their national park homes by changes that are unfolding faster than the animals’ ability to adapt." Fulltext D12/05-09
Water Scarcity Looms
Gardner, Gary
Worldwatch Institute, August 6, 2009, online edition
"Water scarcity is increasing in many regions as factors including population growth, climate change, and pollution restrict the amount of water available relative to demand. In 2008, 1.4 billion people lived in "closed basins"-regions where existing water cannot meet the agricultural, municipal, and environmental needs for all. This number is expected to grow to 1.8 billion by 2025."
Gary Gardner is a Senior Researcher at the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C. Fulltext D13/05-09
It's Easy Being Green
Lovins, Amory
American Interest, September -October 2009, v5, #1, pp46-54
[...] Regardless of how energy prices yo-yo around, we have two other strong motives to keep our eye on the ball: security and climate, neither of which will go away soon. Even if oil prices crash again, the other two motives are more durable and widespread than before. And they encompass different zones of the political spectrum, with environment more a liberal concern and security more a conservative one."
Amory Lovins, co-founder of Rocky Mountain Institute and a pioneer of "soft energy paths", speaks with the AI about his vision of America's future. Order article D14/05-09
Green Ben: Benjamin Franklin and Ecosystems
Johnson, Steven
American History, August 2009, v44, #3, pp26-33
"250 years ago, Benjamin Franklin started thinking a lot like AI Gore. No one listened to him either." This article discusses the environmental philosophies of United States founding father Benjamin Franklin. The author claims that Ben Franklin was dedicated to protecting the environment through his discovery of electricity, which was a more sustainable form of energy than had previously been used.
Steven Johnson writes books about history and science. Fulltext D15/05-09
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