Author Archive

Birthers and Climate Denial

Over at Dot Earth, Andy Revkin engages in some hippie punching. (I’m being facetious–that’s David Roberts’ favorite term for anyone who criticizes progressives on climate politics and policy.) Here’s Revkin making an equivalence between “Birthers” and a segment of the climate community that remains stuck in its own echo chamber: It’s easy to forget that…Continue Reading…

Biosphere 2 Has a New Mission

Ever wondered what came of this famous science experiment in the Arizona desert? As Allen Breed in an AP story this week recalls, Jane Poynter and seven compatriots agreed to spend two years sealed inside a 3-acre terrarium in the Sonoran Desert. Their mission back in the 1990s: To see whether humans might someday be able to…Continue Reading…

The Frankenstein Candidate

This headline says it all: Ron Paul hates energy subsidies, doubts climate change, and loves riding his bike

Arab Revolts & the Climate Connection

Over at Climate Central, I discuss this recent essay that argues climate change has “played a necessary role” in the uprisings sweeping through the Arab world since January.

On Technology, Climate Change & Nuclear Power

Eduardo Zorita packs a lot into this post. I’m not sure it coheres but it’s quite interesting. He touches on the importance of expert authorities and the IPCC and muses on “the interaction between technology and democracy”: We have now several new technologies that have been developed in the last few decades, which the individuals…Continue Reading…

On Climate & Energy Policy, Dems Dance Alone

My issues with Joe Romm aside, he has written a post today that is spot-on. (My rule is to play the argument, not the man.) Riffing off this superb Ezra Klein piece, Romm writes: In the climate bill debate of the past two years, Obama and the Democrats embraced Republican ideas in an effort to…Continue Reading…

What's Endangered is Honest Debate

I’m having a flashback. It’s been triggered by all these bobble heads at the NYT discussing the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Amazingly, not one of these very smart bobble heads is an actual conservation biologist, who would, if he or she was given truth serum, have said that our most noble, high-minded environmental law is…Continue Reading…

How to End the Climate Wars

A leading scientist whose work intersects with climate science charts a pragmatic path forward. Here’s an excerpt from my Q & A with Jonathan Foley: I’m not interested in getting in the middle of the long-running war between climate skeptics and climate activists. I’m tired of the whole thing, and am looking for some pragmatic…Continue Reading…

Whose Team Are You On?

Distracted (excited?) by melodramatics, Lucia and Anthony Watts miss the most interesting part of this tantrum by Michael Tobis, when he says to Steve Mosher: I believe you that you are not on Koch’s team. I think you are on [Julian] Assange’s team, Team Loose Cannon. I’m interested in this because so many discussions involving Assange…Continue Reading…

Stuff

There’s loads of great stuff to explore today over at Climate Central, such as this piece by Michael Lemonick, and this Q & A with Matthew Nisbet. (Speaking of Nisbet, he’s got a new post up that raises some interesting ethical questions.) Check back later today at the Frontier Earth site to see a new…Continue Reading…