In the Press
- The Clean Energy Scam
By MICHAEL GRUNWALD
Time Magazine
Thursday, Mar. 27, 2008
But several new studies show the biofuel boom is doing exactly the opposite of what its proponents intended: it's dramatically accelerating global warming, imperiling the planet in the name of saving it. Corn ethanol, always environmentally suspect, turns out to be environmentally disastrous. Even cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass, which has been promoted by eco-activists and eco-investors as well as by President Bush as the fuel of the future, looks less green than oil-derived gasoline...more
- Economist Strikes Gold In Climate-Change Fight
"Pollution Market Seen as Test for U.S.; One 'Surreal' Fall"
By LEILA ABBOUD
Wall Street Journal
March 13, 2008; Page A1
LONDON -- The planet is getting warmer. Richard Sandor, a 66-year-old economist, is getting wealthier. His company, London-based Climate Exchange PLC, has carved out a key role in Europe's booming trade in "carbon permits" -- essentially, buying and selling the right to pollute. Since 2005, the European Union has required major polluters to either cut the amount of carbon dioxide they spew, or buy pollution credits in the open market... more
- Carbon Output Must Near Zero To Avert Danger, New Studies Say
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 10, 2008; Page A01
The task of cutting greenhouse gas emissions enough to avert a dangerous rise in global temperatures may be far more difficult than previous research suggested, say scientists who have just published studies indicating that it would require the world to cease carbon emissions altogether within a matter of decades... more
- The Trouble With Biofuels
By BRYAN WALSH
Time Magazine
Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008
Maybe it was simply too good to be true. For proponents, biofuels — petroleum substitutes made from plant matter like corn or sugar cane — seemed to promise everything. Using biofuels rather than oil would reduce the greenhouse gases that accelerate global warming, because plants absorb carbon dioxide when they grow, balancing out the carbon released when burned in cars or trucks. Using homegrown biofuels would help the U.S. reduce its utter dependence on foreign oil, and provide needed income for rural farmers around the world. And unlike cars powered purely by electric batteries or hydrogen fuel cells — two alternate technologies that have yet to pan out — biofuels could be used right now...more
- Value of U.S. House's Carbon Offsets Is Murky
Some Question Effectiveness of $89,000 Purchase to Balance Out Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 28, 2008; A01
The House of Representatives has presumably learned that money cannot buy love or happiness. Now, it turns out it's not a sure solution to climate guilt, either... more
- The Bush Plan for Climate Change
By JAMES L. CONNAUGHTON and DANIEL M. PRICE
Wall Street Journal
January 26, 2008; Page A10
The "Bali Roadmap" is a major achievement. It was adopted by all parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to guide negotiation of a new, post-2012 climate-change arrangement by 2009. The U.S. is committed to working with other nations to agree on a global outcome that is environmentally effective and economically sustainable. That is the only kind of agreement that can win public support... more
- Hot Carbon Market Signals New Interest
By LEILA ABBOUD
Wall Street Journal
January 18, 2008; Page A6
Trading of carbon-emission permits almost doubled in value last year to €40.3 billion ($59.1 billion), according to a new report, signaling rising interest in a market formed under the Kyoto Protocol to fight climate change... more
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Scrutiny Rises Over Carbon-Offset Sales Process
The government is scrutinizing the market for global-warming-emission offsets, part of a backlash against the market that could increase industry's costs in complying with any new environmental rules... more
Wall Street Journal
By JEFFREY BALL and IAN TALLEY
January 9, 2008; Page A13
- Solving the Biofuels vs. Food Problem
By BRYAN WALSH
Time Magazine
Monday, Jan. 07, 2008
The fastest way to start a fistfight among environmentalists is to bring up the topic of biofuels — plant-based liquid fuels like ethanol that could potentially take the place of petroleum. Biofuel revolutionaries — like Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla — see plant power as a way to break America's dependence on foreign oil, and produce auto fuel that doesn't kill the climate. Opponents dismiss biofuels — most of which are currently distilled from crops like corn and sugar cane — as a blind alley, one that drives up food prices without saving the earth...more
- New Tool May Help in Fight to Curb CO2
Radar Enables Better Monitoring of Commitments to Preserve Forests
By Tom Wright
Wall Street Journal
January 3, 2008; Page B3
Jakarta, Indonesia, A new focus in the global battle to slow climate change focuses on how to preserve tropical rain forests that store vast amounts of carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping greenhouse gas. Forest destruction accounts for 20% of global CO2 emissions annually, more than all transport, and at the United Nations' climate-change meeting in Bali last month, policy makers agreed to a mechanism that could generate billions of dollars for countries that sign up to protect their forests... more
- The Secret Life of Trees
By BRYAN WALSH
Time Magazine
Friday, Dec.14, 2007
Think of carbon dioxide, the main gas that causes global warming, and you'll likely picture a polluting factory in China; neon lights in Tokyo, an SUV sitting in traffic on the freeways of Santa Monica. But while industry, electricity and transportation all add to the greenhouse effect, there's another villain less well known: our forests. Or, rather, the lack of them. Forests, especially in the lush tropics, suck and store carbon, which is released when trees are cut down or burnt. At the current rate of destruction, deforestation is estimated to account for up to 20% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of carbon stored in tropical forests is staggering — Brazil alone has nearly 50 billion tons — and its loss would ensure dramatic climate change. Scientists estimate that without a change in business as usual, more than half of the Amazon forest would be logged by 2030, releasing 20.5 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere...more
- How to Bury the Problem
Chemisty World
October 2007
Carbon capture and storage could allow us to burn fossil fuels without climate consequences - but only with more investment in R&D, argues Stuart Haszeldine... more
- Paved with Green Intentions
Time Magazine
Thursday, Apr. 19, 2007
Biofuels are touted as a planet-friendly substitute for coal and oil. While ethanol (made from corn or sugarcane) and biodiesel (made from soybean or palm oil) burn cleaner and produce less greenhouse gas than fossil fuels do, critics warn that biofuels have their own dark side. Cuba's Fidel Castro even called powering cars with food "sinister" policy, but here's a more level-headed breakdown of the impact and limitations of farming for fuel...more