Last year, global carbon dioxide emissions fell slightly, as economic production in industrial countries sputtered under the weight of a recession. The Earth Policy Institute research shows that emissions in the United States fell nearly ten percent from 2007-2009 due to a sharp decline in oil and coal demand. However, emissions continued to rise in populous developing countries. In China -- the......read more
In spite of political apathy in Washington — and a disturbing lack of recent concern from the general public — climate scientists keep calling for urgent steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. A new, 19-page report from SF's ClimateWorks Foundation lays out the issue in understandable terms, offering a clear explanation why scientists......read more
The Obama Administration responded with strong words Wednesday to a Republican-initiated report claiming that the agency should have sought outside scientific review on the human impacts of climate change. The report out of the Office of the Inspector General charged that the Environmental Protection Agency cut corners in concluding that greenhouse gases pose a threat to......read more
My, what a difference two years makes. Believe it or not, that's how long ago presidential candidates on both sides of the fence campaigned on promises of addressing climate change. In office a year later, President Obama said he was "committed to making sure that we get an energy policy that makes sense for the country and that helps us grow at the same time as it deals with climate change in a......read more
For telling proof that something is awry with global temperatures, one need look no further than recent headlines about devastating forest fires in Colorado or severe drought across the midwestern plains. If you're still not convinced, Bill McKibben offers up some numbers that will stop you dead in your tracks. In a sober piece written for Rolling Stone, the veteran activist and......read more
With new data indicating that 2012 carbon dioxide emissions in the United States dropped to their lowest levels since 1994, the Environmental Protection Agency has released an interactive map showing industrial greenhouse gas emissions in 2011. Drawing on data from 8,000 power plants, refineries and factories, the map demonstrates which states are the nation’s biggest industrial polluters.......read more
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune for Huffington Post: You know what natural gas smells like. Or do you? Natural gas is actually odorless. That rotten-egg smell is added for safety reasons. Otherwise, you might not notice a potentially deadly gas leak.If only we could add a similar smell to the natural gas industry. Too many people -- especially politicians -- aren't paying attention......read more
NRDC President Francis Beinecke for the Huffington Post: President Obama has announced a robust plan for tackling climate change and reducing dangerous carbon pollution. This marks an historic turning point. No longer will power plants be allowed to dump unlimited amounts of carbon into our atmosphere, threatening our health and environment. Instead, we can clean up our skies and leave future......read more
Even though it was competing with big stories like voting rights, gay marriage, and Paula Deen, it's a little surprising how little attention the mainstream media has given to President Obama's climate action plan, unveiled last week. Unlike last time around, Obama's plan doesn't revolve around legislation that has no hope of passing the congressoinal gauntlet. By using the powers of the......read more
Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, for The Huffington Post: In December 1874, a lean, bearded 36-year-old Scotsman clambered to the top of a towering Douglas fir tree in the Sierra Nevada as a powerful storm swept through the mountains. There John Muir clung for hours, swaying in the wind and delighting in "the profound bass of the naked branches and boles booming like......read more