I’ve written about Germany’s remarkable transition to renewable energy a number of times. I had the opportunity to hear Jochen Flasbarth, the President of the Federal Environment Agency of Germany, speak about this last April. I followed up with the stunning news in June that Germany had, for one day, supplied half of its power from photovoltaic. The Germans continue to set the pace for the rest of the world. Continue reading
The cover from this week’s New Yorker speaks for itself. It is titled High Noon. The superb Ian Falconer has said quite a bit in this poignant rendering. For more on the parlous state of the Arctic, see this on sea ice loss from Climate Central and this from the BBC on Greenland’s startling recent ice surface melt.
I mentioned Bill McKibben’s recent blockbuster article at Rolling Stone in passing the other day. If you didn’t know about the reality of the climate crisis before reading the article, you do now. This article may well have the impact that Elizabeth Kolbert’s Field Notes from A Catastrophe had a few years back. If you were only “concerned” or “cautious” – in the parlance of Yale’s ongoing “Six Americas” study – you’re going to be moved into the “alarmed” category. Continue reading
The Keystone XL pipeline is a travesty. Indeed the whole idea of the Alberta tar sands should be, at this late date, anathema. However, never let it be said that the oil companies and their henchpersons, in Canada and the U.S., are able to actually even consider the health of the planet and the natural environment of the regions in which they operate. Continue reading