In The News

Climate Change After Kyoto – A Blueprint for a Realistic Approach

Peter J. Wilcoxen May 28, 2008
Leaders of developed nations have long attempted to push the US into action on climate change – and public support has been building in the US itself for such action. As a result, the candidates competing for US president are in agreement that climate change is a problem and that the US government should take action. One obstacle, though, to strong, quick action is the reliance of US citizens on...

McCain's Gift to the Green Movement

Eric Pooley May 14, 2008
With US presidential candidates in agreement on the need for action on climate change, debate has been limited on the topic, thus disappointing environmentalists. The Republican candidate, John McCain, has had to distance himself from the policies of a fellow Republican – President George Bush. Climate change is one area, with McCain opposing his party’s stance since 2000. With presumptive...

Clock Running Out on Irreversible Climate Change – Part II

Bo Ekman April 18, 2008
The coming negotiations over the successor to the Kyoto Protocol appear doomed as states express more concern about their narrow rights than the planet’s health. Bo Ekman, founder of Tällberg Forum, argues for developing fallback policies that global citizens must consider in the event of failure of the Copenhagen Process. Ekman fears that the “world will descend into eco-protectionism, where...

Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat

Elisabeth Rosenthal February 8, 2008
Studies suggest that, when all costs are considered, biofuels cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels, according to The New York Times. As the US and other nations search for energy alternatives to fossil fuels, special interests in must-win states for the presidential election have promoted biofuel products. Besides adding to greenhouse gas emissions, development of biofuels...

The Climate May Be Right for a Warming Bill

February 6, 2008
The American public supports government action on climate change – but balks at any steps that will increase costs or change a comfortable way of life. This ambivalence has stalled legislation in US Congress. In the US, environmental legislation is often tied to other issues. For example, one bill with a chance of passage is America’s Climate Security Act. With the US is suffering an economic...

Careful What You Wish For

January 22, 2008
Many challenges await the next US president, and all demand immediate fixes, report a team of reporters for Newsweek. Candidates make promises about 12 million illegal immigrants, with 500,000 more entering every year; a strained health care system that is unaffordable for the millions of uninsured; an overextended military in Iraq and Afghanistan; record oil prices; a battered economy; global...