Smarter Farming

monomaniaI was delighted recently to get a note from a University of Michigan student who had read my article on monoculture, reposted from here, at the United Nations University website, Our World.  The student, Nils Johnson, and his three colleagues put together a clever and very useful series of interviews, and even took my theme for their title.  (I wrote “Monomania is a serious disorder, characterized by, according to my dictionary, ‘excessive concentration on a single object or idea.’ In the case of much of American farming, that single object is the production of as much corn as possible at the greatest possible return on investment.”) Continue reading

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“Climate-Change Counter Movement”

climate policy doonesburyGary Trudeau nailed it a few years back in this strip.  (Click on it to see the whole thing.)  There was a study out that flags the nearly one billion dollars that goes to fund the climate denialism movement each year.  The excellent Suzanne Goldenberg got the whole story in The Guardian in December.  (One of the many things, I’m sure, that I missed as I cast my radar across the horizon.)   In any event, social scientist Robert Brulle conducted the study, published in Climatic Change, one of the key peer-reviewed journals covering climate.  He’s quoted in the article:  “It is not just a couple of rogue individuals doing this. This is a large-scale political effort.” Continue reading

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Big Events, On the Near Horizon

kxl rallyThe Cowboy Indian Alliance is riding into Washington on April 22nd and setting up camp to make a statement:  Reject the Keystone XL Pipeline and Protect the Earth.  They will be joined on April 26 by thousands of people who share that message.  It’s a critical message, and I personally think that John Kerry understands it.  I think that Barack Obama understands it.  It’s our job to give them the political cover to do the right thing.  It’s as simple as that.  It’s our job to refute the lies from the special interests and to overwhelm the forces of reaction with reason, our voices, our votes and our support for organizations and candidates that know the hour is late. Continue reading

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Confidence

cga logoI had the distinct pleasure this past Tuesday of moderating a panel of top experts on clean tech and the state of its global development:  Clean Energy For All was a part of the “Fueling Our Future” series at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs where I teach.  Our guests were Travis Bradford, from SIPA and the Prometheus Institute; Vignesh Gowrishankar, from NRDC; and Minoru Takada from the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative.  CGA’s Dean, Vera Jelinek, welcomed our guests and the full house of audience members. Continue reading

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Inaction = Catastrophe

withering corn AR5 WGIIUS Secretary of State John Kerry is a man with things on his mind:  Putin’s bad attitude, genocide in Syria, a ticking clock for a Palestinian and Israeli peace deal.  Yet with all this, he knows that the climate system needs to be at the top or near the top of his priority list.  His reaction to the new report on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability from the IPCC is clear:  “The costs of inaction are catastrophic.”  His statement yesterday reminds us that we are on very thin ice and we can hear it starting to crack. Continue reading

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Extreme Weather – 2013 Edition

wmo coverThe World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued its “Annual Climate Statement” today in Geneva.  There was nothing particularly revelatory:  We’re still looking at a looming catastrophe.  In fact, for millions, the catastrophe has already occurred.  Ask the folks in the Philippines, or California, or Britain, or Australia.  Yes, but what about all the cold weather in the Eastern half of the US this year you ask.  Well, it’s climate change too:  the polar vortex has been weakened by the melting of Arctic ice, allowing cold air to migrate south.  (Sorry, denialists.)  Continue reading

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Water and Energy

302xWWDlogoThe United Nations has declared today World Water Day.  The theme this year is water and energy.  There are obvious connections, such as that hydropower supplies 20% of the world’s electricity.  But here’s an interesting thing you may not have known:  8% of global energy generation is used for pumping, treating and transporting water.

The UN is not alone in promoting World Water Day and the urgent message that we can’t do without this essential resource – this essential component of life – and we can and must do much better in managing it.  WaterAid, for instance, is a highly effective, global NGO with over 30 years experience bringing water to under-served communities. Continue reading

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What We Know

what we knowI think it’s, to be honest, more-than-a-little absurd that scientists and policy makers feel the need, at this late date, to further underscore the immediacy, the clarity and the solid basis of the climate science that has been showing us, for decades, that we are in a crisis – and that catastrophe is looming. Continue reading

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You Don’t Need A Weatherman…

cape wind logo…to know which way the wind blows.  It’s blowing against the reactionary forces spearheaded by the relatively unsung member of the Koch family, Bill.  Although not in the same league as his two protofascist brothers, Bill nevertheless gets high marks for doing what he can to undermine both democracy and a sane approach to energy in his obdurate opposition to a superb renewable energy initiative, Cape Wind.  The list of supporters for this project is, however, long and prestigious. Continue reading

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