greenhouse gas emissions
Fossil-Fuel Free Investing: A Response to the Counter Arguments
Since Bill McKibben first issued his call to divest from fossil fuel stocks in “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math” last August, there has been quite a reaction in the press and among investors. It is impossible for me to know what has actually happened in terms of divestment, but enough…
190 Countries Meet on Climate Change
Last week, delegates from 190 countries attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha, Qatar. In 1992, the first UNFCCC conference was held in Rio de Janeiro and was known as the Earth Summit. Each year the conference seeks to identify agreements among world governments to…
Shale gas and water use
Modern shale gas extraction, known as hydraulic fracturing, has expanded access to carbon fuel reserves in the U.S. that would have been considered unattainable just five years ago. The implications are significant for both the economy and the environment. Natural gas currently accounts for almost a quarter of U.S. energy…
Superstorm Sandy’s Silver Lining
At 5 AM on Thursday November 1st…, just days after Superstorm Sandy battered the east coast I boarded a plane from Portland, OR to Newark, NJ. Originally, I was simply going east to visit my 93 year old grandmother; yet as I spoke to my family that morning
Data Centers Debated
The digital age allows many of us to send emails instantly, shop online, and store documents in “the cloud.” But the demands of our digital consumption are powered by large data centers that process information requests and store large amounts of data, all with an environmental impact. A recent series…
Japan to phase out nuclear energy by 2040
Following the earthquake and tsunami that forced the Japanese government to shut down all of Japan’s nuclear power plants last March, the country has significantly shifted its energy sources. Today, just two of the country’s 50 nuclear reactors have recommenced operations. Prior to the natural disaster, Japan depended on its…
Carbon Disclosure Project to U.S. Government: Set carbon price
Last week, at the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Global Climate Change Forum, the organization issued a challenge to the United States to match the leadership of many corporations by moving forward on climate regulation. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a London-based research organization that represents 650 institutional investors, including Portfolio…
Debunking “Clean” Natural Gas
I was riding my bicycle to work the other day and a city bus went blasting past me. As it did so, I couldn’t help but see the words “Powered by CLEAN BURNING natural gas!” emblazoned on its rear end. Natural gas is a fossil fuel, it isn’t clean burning,…
Stop the Frack Attack
Across the United States, the development of natural gas via hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling currently occurs in 32 states. As the development of shale gas has increased, so has the number of community groups united in an effort to end hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in their communities. Last week, more…
Global Warming by the Numbers
Bill McKibben believes that we’re losing the fight against global warming. In his recent article in Rolling Stone (Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math… in the August, 2, 2012 issue), McKibben writes “we're losing the fight, badly and quickly – losing it because, most of all, we remain in denial
