Dr. James Hansen’s Report from Norway, of Interest to Canadians
Dr. James Hansen’s experience in Norway, including a letter to the Prime Minister and the government response, have been posted to Dr. Hansen’s website. He condemns the Norwegian government for supporting Statoil’s development of the Canadian Tar Sands.
The Broken Legs of the Biggest Elephant in the Room, the US Climate Bill
A brilliantly written article by Lee Wasserman, director of the Rockefeller Family Fund, writing for the NY Times and Huffington Post. Wasserman recognizes the US Senate climate bill for what it was, born to fail. This is not to say we don’t need legislation to fight dangerous climate change. We need a strong, simple, equitable bill, and we need it now.
Cryosat-2 Now Sending Data on Arctic and Antarctic Ice Thickness
The Cryosat-2 mission is delivering on its promise to make high-precision radar measurements of polar ice.
The first data from the European spacecraft has been presented at an Earth observation meeting in Norway.
The information clearly shows Cryosat has the required sensitivity to assess the state of Antarctic and Arctic ice
How Do Empathy and Dangerous Climate Change Relate?
Ray Grigg writes about Jeremy Rifkin’s book, “The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a Time of Crisis.”
“Empathy makes everything personal. This explains why environmental interest continues to rise in profile. And an electronically interconnected world provides no hiding places. If Jeremy Rifkin is correct in The Empathic Civilization – and most likely he is – we are entering a tumultuous time of make-or-break decisions. Our old and narrow awareness is being replaced by an expansive and exacting regard for our planet’s biosphere, that thin and delicate film of life which is, for each one of us, the difference between everything and nothing.”
John Holdren talks to Climate Science Watch About Presidential Climate Policy
John Holdren, “Unless and until the US gets serious nationally about climate change – and we’re not serious until we put a price on greenhouse gas emissions – until we do that we’re not going to have the international agreement, we’re not going to have the mitigation that we need, and we’re not going to have the support for adaptation… It will be a lot easier to get people serious for adaptation when they see that we’re also serious about mitigation.
Video: UBC Professor William Rees on Humanity’s Need to Reduce Consumption
An eight part video of Dr. William Rees, professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning, talking of humanity’s survival depending on an 80% reduction in energy use.
ET Meets IT: Video of TIME Magazine interview with Google
Video: Brian Walsh of TIME Magazine interviews Dan Reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives at Google, who talks of what the Internet giant is doing in the clean energy sphere.
Great News for Canadians Concerned for Global Warming
OTTAWA—Members of the Climate Action Network-Réseau Action Climat Canada are very pleased to celebrate historic progress in Canadian climate change policy today with the passing of the third reading vote on the Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-311).
“All three opposition parties must be congratulated for their support for the Climate Change Accountability Act,” said Dale Marshall of the David Suzuki Foundation. “This support reminds us that the majority of Members of Parliament, along with the majority of Canadians and provinces want stronger action on climate change. “
The Climate Change Accountability Act requires that the Canadian federal government implement regulations and policies to attain a long-term target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below the 1990 level by 2050.
Dr. James Hansen’s Proposal: The People’s Climate Stewardship Act
The People’s Climate Stewardship Act proposed by Dr. James Hansen calls for a “simple, honest” carbon fee, collected from fossil-fuel companies upon the first sale at the mine, wellhead or port of entry.
The money collected via this fee would be distributed to the public as a monthly “dividend” or “green check.” Distributing all of the revenue equitably to households will ensure that families can afford the energy they need during the transition to a clean energy future, and it should help win public support for a rising carbon fee.
Jeremy Rifkin on the Race to Global Consciousness in a World of Crisis
Video: Jeremy Rifkin, author of “The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World of Crisis,” talks with Google staff about his book.
