I’m fascinated by the dynamics at work in our society that surround climate change. The United States is notably sluggish in its response to the challenge, and, perhaps because of this, certain groups with progressive ideals are getting fairly militant. One example is the Sierra Club, which, after 120 years of law-abiding environmental advocacy, announced recently that it (more…)

A company’s supply chain is one of its top levers for addressing climate change. However, as the Carbon Disclosure Project’s latest supply chain report shows, it is challenging in practice to reduce supplier greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. According to the report, which describes the actions of more than 2,300 suppliers, there remains a significant gap in efforts to reduce GHG (more…)

President Anote Tong has a problem. He leads a country which is very seriously threatened by climate change. The incursion of sea water into the islands’ drinking water is real and as most of the coral atolls are only a few metres above sea level, a rise in sea level means the end of the country.

So what do you do? Clearly trying to persuade the (more…)

In his second inaugural address, President Obama prominently cited the need to tackle climate change, a vow Democrats say the president will carry out using his executive powers to bypass Congress.

After barely addressing the issue during his reelection campaign, Obama on Monday indicated that climate would be a priority in his second term, saying that failure to address the threat of a changing climate “would betray our children and future generations.” “Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science,” Obama said. “But none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms.”

According to a New York Times report, the president’s new climate strategy will include tougher Environmental Protection Agency rules on emissions from coal plants, as well as stricter energy standards for home appliances and buildings.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

I come across several articles each day that cause me to adjust my position on where we’re going as a civilization. Here’s one on BP, peak oil, and climate change that offers an interesting nuance, concluding with the following:

As author Naomi Klein outlines in an article written in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last fall, it has (more…)

A global-scale, multi-sectoral, regional assessment of the impacts of climate change that may be avoided by emissions policies is reported this week in Nature Climate Change.

Although a number of studies have looked at the effects of proposed mitigation policies on global (more…)

It’s arguably crucial for schools and colleges to do all they can to encourage future green builders; this means educating students about how to use sustainable technologies and alternative energy sources, while also conducting practical research. What, then, are schools currently focusing on, and what kinds of subjects are available? Moreover, what enterprise (more…)

Energy benchmarking can unlock $9 billion in energy savings by 2020, suggests a recent report by the Institute of Market Transformation. Despite our lofty aspirations of energy independence and tackling global climate change, we are only beginning to implement the first step in the multifamily building sector – understanding our energy use. Multifamily (more…)

There have been devastating droughts in the past few years in places like Africa, Australia, and the United States. Last summer, the drought in the central US caused the loss of massive crops, causing a major economic hit for the country. The seemingly increasing prevalence of droughts has some announcing the effects of climate change coming to fruition. However, (more…)

As a close observer of the energy and climate global scene since 2004, I have to say that 2012 was full of interesting news and I thought I should offer a selection of the most important ones.

Many countries unveiled last year large efforts to tackle climate change and high energy prices. On all continents, good news is piling up. However, I (more…)