Monthly Archives : May 2011

Whose is Bigger?

Who knows why he even bothers sizing himself up next to Watts, but in case you were wondering, Romm wants you to know that his is bigger.

Chris Mooney's Epiphany

It’s fascinating when someone gets so smitten with a theory that explains EVERYTHING. Lately, Chris Mooney can’t stop purring about “motivated reasoning,” which he discusses at length in this article. It’s even given him insight into his own behavior: Blogs”“and blog commenting”“allow us to respond even more rapidly (without calm reflection) and emotionally (without editorial…Continue Reading…

Shale Gas: Game Changer = Planet Breaker?

With stories such as this and this becoming more common, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone would show why energy security is no longer a winning issue for climate change advocates. Today, Michael Lind makes the case in Salon: As everyone who follows news about energy knows by now, in…Continue Reading…

Saving Civilization

Over at the new incarnation of Think Progress, Brad Johnson has given himself a tall order. He also sets down what he calls the “new reality”: The Kyoto Protocol is in shambles, greenhouse pollution is at record levels, and climate disasters are growing in frequency and intensity. To preserve the promise of civilization, we must start anew. My guess…Continue Reading…

Talking Heads and Climate Change

Last week, NBC weatherman Al Roker caught a lot of flak (deservedly so) for suggesting that climate change was now causing tornadoes to strike urban areas. Not all hope is lost for broadcast news, though. Last night, this segment on the PBS News Hour (the one place where talking heads can be relied on for…Continue Reading…

I'm With Stupid

The findings from this new study “reveals the downside of our hyperconnected lives,” writes Jonah Lehrer. Social media, he says, may be facilitating “new forms of collective action,” but it has also enabled new kinds of collective stupidity. Groupthink is now more widespread, as we cope with the excess of available information by outsourcing our beliefs to celebrities,…Continue Reading…

Why U.S. Climate Policy is Radioactive

Below is a guest post from Jonathan Gilligan, an associate professor in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University. He is also the associate director of Vanderbilt’s Climate Change Research Network. Gilligan works at “the intersection of science, ethics, and public policy with a focus on the ways in which scientific knowledge and…Continue Reading…

Getting Past the Argument

This essay by Bill McKibben is getting a lot of eyeballs. Originally published yesterday in The Washington Post (where it was among the most widely read articles for part of the day), it has since been reproduced in Salon and The Huffington Post.  At the Washington Post, the piece thus far has generated over 1200…Continue Reading…

The Disconnect on Global Warming

I’ve been traveling, so I’ve only been keeping up with the news sporadically. But this front page NYT story from Monday, about Chicago (and other cities) preparing for climate change, deserves mention. It also highlights the parallel (but strikingly different) universes of the climate change debate. In her piece, Leslie Kaufman nicely displays the disconnect…Continue Reading…

The Next Oil Frontier

Like a monster in a horror movie, oil might prove tough to kill off. This front-page story in today’s WSJ ought to give climate concerned folk the shudders. Because it’s behind a pay wall, I’m going to quote extensively from the piece, including this set-up: The Arabian Peninsula has fueled the global economy with oil…Continue Reading…