"In Hurricane Sandy's Fury, The Fingerprint Of Climate Change"

Check out this article in the Huffington Post: "In Hurricane Sandy's Fury, The Fingerprint Of Climate Change"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/29/hurricane-sandy-climate-change_n_2038859.html

Stay safe everybody!

Marilyn

This week's seminar speaker, David D. Hart, has thought a lot about a question that has much concerned those of us in this seminar: If the evidence of climate change (or biodiversity loss, or destruction of ecosystem services or other major issues) is so freaking clear, what do we have to do to get the public to support doing something about it before it's too late, if it isn't already. Here's a link to a recent paper in which Hart writes some about this issue and one possible solution:

http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/people/capers/HartCalhoun2010.pdf

bob

Naomi Klein on Capitalism vs. the Climate

Some of you may have seen this already, but I read it again over the weekend and it impressed me so much all over again that I thought I should post it here so that anyone who hasn't read it would be aware of its existence. It's a terrific piece that looks unflinchingly at climate change and the unfortunate but inevitable consequences of economic growth. It's not pretty, but it seems more true than anything else I've read recently. It's long but very insightful. Enjoy:

http://www.thenation.com/article/164497/capitalism-vs-climate


bob

Science in the 2012 elections

Not sure how many of you saw Eric Schultz's email with this link which does a side by side comparison of Obama and Romney's perspectives on scientific issues of the day:

http://www.sciencedebate.org/debate12/

I found Romney's response to climate change particularly interesting:

"I am not a scientist myself, but my best assessment of the data is that the world is getting warmer, that human activity contributes to that warming, and that policymakers should therefore consider the risk of negative consequences. However, there remains a lack of scientific consensus on the issue — on the extent of the warming, the extent of the human contribution, and the severity of the risk — and I believe we must support continued debate and investigation within the scientific community."

Going back to our class last fall, I find this perpetuated idea that there is a "lack of scientific consensus" so frustrating. 

Romney also said:

"So I oppose steps like a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system that would handicap the American economy and drive manufacturing jobs away, all without actually addressing the underlying problem. Economic growth and technological innovation, not economy-suppressing regulation, is the key to environmental protection in the long run."

It is still unclear to me how developing and building infrastructure based on increasing our capacity for green, low GHG emission energy sources would drive manufacturing jobs away...

Can the Occupy movement do anything for the environment?

Does the Occupy movement hold any hope for advancing environmental policies in the US? Again, the question arises: what power does our government have when corporations control the government? Is reclaiming the government from corporations a necessary first step?

Check out this recent article:

"I've been arrested four times now and I'll get arrested 1,000 times more until we see some change," said Barry Knight, a 44-year-old actor from Massachusetts. "We're fighting for nothing less than the future of our country. Do you want your kids to grow up in corptocracy' or in a democracy?"

Fossil Fuel Industry Finances Defeat of Obama

 Fossil Fuel Industry Ads Dominate TV Campaign

"Some of the mightiest players in the oil, gas and coal industries are financing an aggressive effort to defeat [Obama] or at least press him to adopt policies that are friendlier to fossil fuels. And the president’s former allies in promoting wind and solar power and caps on greenhouse gases? They are disenchanted and sitting on their wallets. "

For the full article:

New York Times article

Notes on posting in the blog

Hi group!

Just wanted to say a couple quick things about posting in the blog that should make it more functional.

First, try to title blog posts, seeing those larger "headlines" is useful if you are quickly looking through the blog.

Secondly, if you are going to post a link, you can click the "link" tab at the top of the page (in the "posting" window). This will provide a direct link. There is also a button to insert images.

Thirdly, I think it might be good if we try to "label" our posts. On the right hand side of the posting window, there is a box "labels". For instance, if you post an article about economics of climate change, include the labels "economics", "climate change", "capitalism", or whatever key words you think are appropriate. That way, if we want to look at all the posts on climate change, we can click on that label and they will all come up.

Just some thoughts, obviously you can get as involved, or not involved, at you would like to! Thanks!

-Marilyn