Wednesday, February 26, 2014

DALAI LAMA: FREE MARKET SOLUTIONS WILL NOT SOLVE CLIMATE CHANGE

And, he said that at a forum at the free-market American Enterprise Institute? Nice work WUSTL students.... who has more moral authority? Dalai Lama or Wall Street and the coal industry?

From the WUSTL Record...Students from WUSTL in DC Programs get rare chance to visit with Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama discussed moral free enterprise, ethics at private forum

February 24, 2014

By Diane Toroian Keaggy

Emily Kent, a junior who is studying environmental policy, asked the Dalai Lama if he believes market-based solutions can solve climate change. The short answer was no, that as a Marxist, he has no faith in capitalism, she recalled. But he does believe in the next generation of leaders.

UTILITY DEREGULATION & LABOR RIGHTS & EXTREME WEATHER: CONNECT THE DOTS

577 Billion Ways Extreme Weather and Extreme Energy Are Connected

Sean Sweeney, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy

http://energydemocracyinitiative.org/577-billion-ways-extreme-weather-and-extreme-energy-are-connected/

Can we really expect to emit 577 billion tons of CO2 and not cause major problems for the earth’s climate? That is the amount of CO2 humans have put into the earth’s delicately balanced atmosphere since the dawn of the industrial age. It has warmed the earth in ways that has increased moisture in the air and raised sea levels. The connection between CO2 emissions and extreme weather is today indisputable.

Three Signs of Retreat in the Global War on Climate Change | The Nation

Three Signs of Retreat in the Global War on Climate Change | The Nation

Michael Klare

not good news --

Thursday, February 13, 2014

HOW JUDICIALIZATION OF POLITICS UNDERMINES DEMOCRACY

St. Louis Judge Cites Citizens United to Protect Tax Breaks for Peabody Energy (via Desmogblog)

With the quick stroke of a pen, a circuit court judge in St. Louis has singlehandedly silenced more than 22,000 city residents, who had sought to bring a ballot initiative to end tax breaks to fossil fuel companies to a citywide vote in April. Last…

"Shipping this subsidized coal to Asian countries to help them power their factories, which undercut American manufacturers, makes little sense."

Among lots of other reasons, read on:
Don’t Sell Cheap U.S. Coal to Asia Op-Ed by Michael Riordan, NYT Feb. 12, 2014

Monday, February 10, 2014

TAR SANDS = BAD AIR, by WUSTL ALUM: JOSEPH STROMBERG

Mining Tar Sands Produces Much More Air Pollution Than We Thought

By Joseph Stromberg

smithsonianmag.com February 3, 2014

FILE UNDER "COAL, WHY WE SHOULD NOT BE EXPORTING IT TO CHINA"

HOW THE US EXPORTS GLOBAL WARMING

While Obama talks of putting America on the path to a clean, green future, we're flooding world markets with cheap, high carbon fuels

Rolling Stone - Tim Dickinson- Feb. 3, 2014

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-u-s-exports-global-warming-20140203#ixzz2svMpZ37l
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Friday, February 7, 2014

CLEAN COAL AS ANTI-SCIENCE: SHOULD WE BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STUFF?

I am venturing a rare individual reflection here (BG):

Should those of us who claim to be scientists be associated with the ACCCE coalition (which includes Peabody, Arch, and Ameren)? They are citing fringe elements as scientists. One reviewer said this report would receive a low grade if it were a student paper. Citing authors who say that CO2 is not a greenhouse gas? Dear scientists, pro-coal and otherwise, of Wash. U.: would you subscribe to this knowledge? Embarrassing and scary. Are we an institution led by scientists....or madmen?

The ACCCE report: http://www.americaspower.org/sites/default/files/Social-Benefits-of-Carbon.pdf

The analysis of the report: http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/02/06/coal-industry-report-social-cost-carbon-relies-climate-science-denial

You decide.

CLEAN COAL AS ANTI-SCIENCE: GETS WORSE AND WORSE

Coal Industry Report On Social Cost Of Carbon Relies On Climate Science Denial (via Desmogblog)

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) seems a confusing and confused organisation of major coal miners and burners - even if you only consider its oxymoronic title. When the industry group was launched in 2008, the message was that…

FRACKED GAS: WORSE FOR CLIMATE THAN COAL?

Nature (last year, but back in the news)...

Methane leaks erode green credentials of natural gas

Losses of up to 9% show need for broader data on US gas industry’s environmental impact.

Jeff Tollefson

02 January 2013

http://www.nature.com/news/methane-leaks-erode-green-credentials-of-natural-gas-1.12123

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