Jim Pierobon is Founder and principal writer of The Energy Fix. He is a policy, marketing and social media strategist who has reported on, testified and consulted about smarter grids, cyber-security as it affects the power grid, fossil fuel shortages, price spikes, energy efficiency and the rise and fall -- and the rise again of nuclear and renewable energy sources.FAST FIX: Track current global greenhouse gas emissions here
Deutsche Bank’s DB Climate Change Advisors estimates the metric tons of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. You can find the current tally online here but also in New York City at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue, outside Madison Square Garden and Penn Station (photo from late 2011).
Best chance for successful climate treaty: leadership by China or environmental emergency
As the next round of international negotiations about a possible climate change treaty — the 17th to be exact since the Kyoto Treaty was signed in 1992 — get up to speed in Durban, South Africa, it’s becoming increasingly clear that an environmental emergency stands the best chance of compelling industrialized countries to act. That’s [...]
Google isn’t the energy magician some hoped it would be; RE > C how much longer?
RE < C ? Not without a carbon tax or cap and trade system. Google’s decision to stop trying to make clean electricity less expensive than power from traditional “dirty” coal-fired power plants was destined to come up short. Congress’ unwillingness in 2009 to create a carbon cap and trade system made sure of that. [...]
Even without the Keystone XL Pipeline, 350 ppm of carbon dioxide is no longer achievable
Here’s one slice of irony from today’s protest against TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline surrounding the White House: actually reducing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere from about 389 parts per million (ppm) currently to the widely-held threshold of 350 ppm is no longer possible. The combined impacts, to name a few, [...]
Fresh messages, new language needed to achieve sustainable energy future; when’s the inflection point?
Advocates of a more sustainable energy future can blame Solyndra, Al Gore, President Obama, James Hansen, Bill McKibben or environmental interests groups such as the 350.org, Natural Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. The fact is a growing number of, if not most, “green” initiatives are not likely to achieve their missions of [...]
THIS is the way to crystallize the risks of dirty power – kudos to American Lung Association
“Log on to LungUSA.org and tell Washington: ‘Don’t weaken the Clean Air Act’ ” is the closing appeal from this 30-second TV commercial running this week at least in the Washington, DC market. It follows audio of an infant coughing and wheezing in a red stroller / carriage on the National Mall, in a Congressional [...]
FAST FIX: These residents in the Southeast and Midwest U.S. DO want to combat climate change
Large majorities of African Americans in Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri and South Carolina believe that everyone — including governments and individuals – can do something to reduce the impact of climate change. This according to research by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies: “Consistent with African Americans nationally, black adults in the four states [...]
Taxing carbon: Congress and Maryland won’t so Montgomery County is trying
The 4th District Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia holds the key to a first-of-its-kind attempt by Montgomery County, Maryland to place a $5-per-ton tax on emissions from the predominantly coal-fired Mirant Corp. power plant in the county. Because it is the only large source of carbon emissions in the county that would be liable [...]
New Jersey Gov. Christie says he has a better way than RGGI to cut carbon emissions
That’s the conclusion one could reach after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced the Garden State is withdrawing from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. If he’s right, he may be on to something because he asserted there are better ways to fight global warming, which he says is real and caused by humans. [...]
Defang the EPA on the Clean Air Act, or not? The answer is coming…
The U.S. Senate is preparing to vote on legislation that would take away the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate harmful greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. President Obama opposes it. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has gone so far as to call the maneuver “draconian.” Companion legislation is slated for a vote [...]