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Using nuclear power to extract oil
Nuclear plants to generate enough power to extract oil from Canadian tar sands. Makes total sense.
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TXU bleg
Rumblings and grumblings are afoot that the big TXU deal is not quite the unqualified victory for environmentalists that some enthusiastic bloggers made it out to be. I have neither […]
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Let’s be clear-eyed about it
This story reminds of a point I’ve been meaning to make. Too often discussions of corporate green initiatives — or just corporate involvement in green matters — devolves into whether […]
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From a former homeowner
Over on the blog of the popular real estate site Zillow, a former homeowner makes an eloquent case for the joys of city living: Now, we stand face-to-face with people […]
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Sports Illustrated hearts us
Sports Illustrated loves us! Cue sporty studs and studettes! Bring on the swimsuit babes! We’re all green now! Glad to see SI is On the Ball. And you know how […]
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Grim
The folks at Spiegel got an advance look at the IPCC’s Working Group II report, due out next month. (WGII is the one on "impacts, adaptation and vulnerability." WGIII is […]
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Pay No Attention to That Protocol Behind the Curtain
Twenty-year-old Montreal Protocol has helped combat global warming It kind of sucks to be the Montreal Protocol. Not only do you lack the name recognition of your compatriot from Kyoto, […]
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All the cool kids are using BerkShares
Here in southwest Mass. there's a new local currency issued by a nonprofit that's been making a splash with recent stories in the NY Times and on ABC national news. There are 230 businesses accepting BerkShares already, and there are 140,000 in regular circulation. -
Lessons on getting the numbers straight
What's a percent or two? Or three? Not much, sometimes. But a lot when we're talking about carbon dioxide emissions that are throwing earth's climate out of whack. And quite a lot when effort is going into ranking emission sources to help prioritize our responses to the climate crisis.
These thoughts are occasioned by a scoop in the Guardian (U.K.) reporting that world shipping -- essentially, freighters and tankers moving goods and raw materials -- accounts for "up to 5% of the global total" of carbon emissions. "CO2 output from shipping [is] twice as much as airlines," shouts the Guardian headline, in light of the 2-3 percent share of emissions associated with air travel.
Goodness, a dozen eco-blogs seemed to mutter in unison, have we been barking up the wrong tree? Were we wrong to hammer globe-girdling celebs and fret over cheap air fares, instead of targeting ships carrying shirts from Bangkok to Berlin and plasma screens from Seoul to San Francisco?
Well, not so fast.
