A Newer World

on the policy, politics, science and economics of environmental protection, sustainability, energy and climate change

Catastrophe

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Bill Hewitt

I’ve been offline for a long time, nearly a year, I know. (Working on a new book and a few other impediments got in the way.) But yesterday’s election makes me want to record my few thoughts here.

I think yesterday’s events are equivalent, probably worse, than those of September 11, 2001 or November 22, 1963 or December 7, 1941. It looks and feels that violent. I remember September 11th vividly. We were right on top of it. I also remember JFK’s assassination and the grim weekend that followed. I wasn’t yet born when Pearl Harbor was attacked but I’ve been to the National Monument and got a sense of the scope of the disaster. Continue reading →

The Heart of the Matter

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Bill Hewitt

The President announced his intention a year ago to cut American greenhouse gases from power plants. The Climate Action Plan he unveiled in a comprehensive speech on June 25, 2013, was clear about his directive that EPA craft a rule to reduce carbon dioxide from existing power plants. What’s the burden? A good one third of our total greenhouse gas emissions come from the electricity sector and 75% of that comes from coal-fired plants. Nearly one quarter of all American greenhouse gas emissions come from power made from burning coal. It simply does not have to be that way. Continue reading →