Jonathon Kay over at the National Post, lays out the conservative case for a carbon tax, and while he has some legitimate complaints about Dion's plan, at least he is engaging in honest debate. A carbon tax can actually make government smaller. Right now, Western governments control and tax the use of carbon fuels through... Continue Reading →

We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that’s got to change. -Al Gore

In Part 1, we learned that someone who gives advice based on their knowledge is nothing more than priest that should be ignored. Part 2 is about how deniers misuse the complexity of the situation. For [deniers] complexity is something to be abused rather than a challenge to be understood, underlining quite clearly (again) the... Continue Reading →

I don't usually agree with what gets passed off as news in the National Post, but today Jonathan Kay has an great summary of why Canada's treatment of Omar Khadr is a disgrace. Bring Omar home. Omar Khadr was a child soldier. During the carnage that gripped Sierra Leone in the 1990s, the most terrifying... Continue Reading →

It is no secret that climate change is a serious problem than needs to be addressed, and the sooner we do it the easier it will be to make the greenhouse gas emissions cuts that are necessary. The longer we delay the more difficult the required changes will be. The goal of climate mitigation is... Continue Reading →

Given last years record melt, some scientists who were predicting an ice-free arctic summers by 2013 were on record saying that those predictions may have been to conservative. Now some scientists studying the arctic ice are predicting (with roughly 50/50 odds) that North Pole may be ice-free this summer. Arctic warming has become so dramatic... Continue Reading →

While this really shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone who has had even a passing interest in environmental issues, a new study in the journal Environmental Politics has concluded that over 90% of books downplaying the seriousness of environmental problems (also known as denial) had direct links to conservative think tanks (CTT).... Continue Reading →

In my last post on the Liberal carbon tax proposal, I called the current attack on it blatantly dishonest, and called on all Canadians to demand politicians seriously debate the proposal on its merits. Unfortunately things have taken a turn for the worse. The debate has now devolved into the ridiculous assertion that Liberal thegreenshift.ca... Continue Reading →

Much of the debate on the recent Liberal announcement, has been a clear demonstration of why politicians have resisted this idea, even as economists and policy wonks from across the political spectrum called for it. A new tax (even if accompanied by equivalent tax cuts elsewhere) is never going to be an easy sell, especially if... Continue Reading →

When even the Bush administration says that the impacts of climate change on North America will be severe, everyone should pay attention. The time to act is yesterday. The first thorough federal review of research on how global warming may affect extreme climate events in North America forecasts more drenching rains, parching droughts (especially in... Continue Reading →

I can't say I am shocked, this isn't the first dishonest attack by the Conservatives on carbon taxes. A prominent resource economist has pronounced himself disgusted with "dishonest" Conservative attack ads on a Liberal carbon tax proposal that's yet to be unveiled. "The Conservatives -- and I say this with great sadness because I don't... Continue Reading →

The National Academies of 13 countries told the leaders of the biggest polluting countries that immediate large-scale mitigation action is required, and CO2 emissions need to be cut by 50%. The transition to a low carbon society requires: setting standards; designing economic instruments and promoting energy efficiency across all sectors; encouraging changes in individual behaviour;... Continue Reading →

I’d like to thank the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) for publishing such an unintentionally informative and amusing newsletter. Rarely has the anti-scientific nature of global warming denial been so well stated in a mere two sentences: A scientist who says that the atmosphere is warming, and cites certain physical processes, is still a scientist. A... Continue Reading →

The idea behind offsets is that you pay someone else to reduce emissions on your behalf when they can make the reductions more cheaply than you can. The leading offset method use to fight climate chaos is the Clean Development Mechanism. This is an extremely controversial topic, with many (including me) contending it does not... Continue Reading →

Has hell frozen over? (h/t DeSmogBlog)

We need to get off oil (and other fossil fuels), and not just because of the environmental damage of burning them. The fact is that, sooner than we would like to admit, energy derived from fossil fuels will become prohibitively expensive, and if at that time we are still depended on fossil fuel our economy/society... Continue Reading →

Climate change deniers love to claim that the scientific community is hostile to any competing theories on climate change, they claim that there is a massive conspiracy silencing anyone who doesn't agree with the conclusions of the IPCC despite there being no evidence for such claims, and plenty of evidence suggesting that the opposite is... Continue Reading →

"Drill here, drill now, pay less." This is Newt Gingrich's new campaign to support domestic drilling in ANWR and thus 'lower' gas prices for Americans. Aside from seriously hurting Newt's supposed green credentials, it is also blatantly dishonest. How much cheaper would gas be if drilling was allowed in ANWR? It is expected that the... Continue Reading →

Just as we are beginning to realize the incredible importance of biodiversity Environmental damage and species loss costs between 1.35 and 3.1 trillion euros (2.1 to 4.8 trillion dollars) every year, according to a report released Thursday at a major UN conference on biodiversity... "Though our wellbeing is totally dependent on these 'ecosystem services', they... Continue Reading →

From Nature: Significant changes in physical and biological systems are occurring on all continents and in most oceans, with a concentration of available data in Europe and North America. Most of these changes are in the direction expected with warming temperature. Here we show that these changes in natural systems since at least 1970 are... Continue Reading →

Canadians are warming up to the prospect of paying an environmental tax on activities that cause climate change, but they don't necessarily expect to get the money back in the form of income tax cuts, a new poll has revealed. The McAllister Opinion Research survey, commissioned for the Pembina Institute - an environmental research group... Continue Reading →

Dion has finally warmed up to the climate change plan that is favored by most economists. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion pitched his controversial proposal to tax carbon emissions, despite warnings from his own caucus that such a policy would be politically risky. Dion laid out the broad goals of his plan in a speech Thursday... Continue Reading →

Driving less? More than two-thirds of car owners already are. It's a natural reflex to $50-$70 tank fill-ups. But US drivers may also know it's time to pay a price to curb global warming. That may be one reason they reject the campaign stunt of urging a holiday for the federal gas tax. US politicians... Continue Reading →

The always great Denialism Blog, has a great post on the inconsistency of climate change deniers. One of the most salient features of cranks is their inconsistency. A major difference between someone who is trying to reason scientifically and someone who has a fixed belief they are trying to defend against rational inquiry is the... Continue Reading →

This is in-line with a recent report by the US EPA, which concluded that combating climate change would have a minimal effect on the growth of the US economy. The International Monetary Fund forecast that sharply reducing greenhouse gas emissions would slow global growth, but only minimally if economic policies were designed to encourage companies... Continue Reading →

One year ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had to rule immediately on whether it intended to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. One year later, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson has continued to drag his heels, leading 17 states to file suit against the EPA today for flouting the Supreme Court’s ruling.... Continue Reading →

While this trailer is a bit overly dramatic, the book its is based on Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World's Water is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in water conservation and management issues.

Earth Hour has come and gone; the lights are back on. While Canadians where extraordinarily receptive to the idea of turning off the lights for one hour in an attempt raise awareness of our glutinous use of energy and the resulting environmental consequences, the jury is still out on whether on not it actually achieved... Continue Reading →

Raising awareness of environmental issues = fascism. Or at least that is what readers of a recent article by Peter Foster in the Financial Fanatical Post were told. Foster seems to have taken issue with the upcoming Earth Hour, which 'asks households and businesses to turn off their lights and non-essential electrical appliances for one... Continue Reading →

How much CO2, is to much for our atmosphere to handle? What CO2 concentration should we aim for? There are very important questions that need to be answered. According to a recent paper by Hansen et al. there is already to much CO2 in the atmosphere. Their paper states that a longterm goal for CO2... Continue Reading →

The corner stone of the recent 'green' plan by the Conservatives was carbon capture and storage. Unfortunately as DeSmogBlog points out carbon capture and storage is still a long way off from being a viable solution. Large scale CCS is expensive and unproven technology being used by coal enthusiasts to convince governments and the public... Continue Reading →