Articles by Clark Williams-Derry

Business as usual is expensive too

Will global warming eventually cost the world's economy $12 trillion? I've got no clue. I mean, even the specialists who've studied the economic impacts of climate change have no real idea. The latest figure is just their best guess.

But this much is clear: no matter whether this estimate is on the mark, the idea that we should tally the cost of "business as usual" -- i.e., letting climate change run amok -- is exactly the right framework for thinking about the issue.

Tips to save energy

I wish I'd written this: an energy economist's seven-point prescription for using energy more efficiently.

Is wood-framing a green building material?

Talk about "framing" these days, and many people will think about author and linguist George Lakoff, and the post-2004-election brouhaha about how to communicate, or "frame," political ideas.

But apparently, there's much more obscure debate going on about another kind of framing -- the kind of framing that goes into building a house.

It's a bit arcane, really. But the crux of the debate is this: should traditional wood-framing count as a "green" building technique? Or is something else, such as steel or concrete, a more environmentally friendly choice?

It’s driving me mad!

A while back I lamented about how much extra driving my family does, now that our older daughter has started kindergarten. (To recap: the school that my wife and I chose isn't in our neighborhood, and we're driving an extra 75 miles every week as a result. Ugh.)

Just before school started, my main beef was that all that extra driving would increase our family's contribution to climate change. I still think that's right.

But there's perhaps a more immediate impact worth mentioning. I'm spending a lot more time in my car on the typical weekday -- a little over double the time, as a matter of fact.

And at risk of sounding like a whiner: it's really getting to be a drag.