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The heat is on: How climate change is making Western wildfires worse
Posted on September 11, 2017 Leave a Comment
Let’s look at the other set of natural disasters that is being exacerbated by climate change. Major wildfires are burning in British Columbia in western Canada and in at least nine states throughout the American West: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. California, Montana, and Oregon are bearing the worst of […]
Hurricane Harvey is climate change on steroids
Posted on September 4, 2017 Leave a Comment
Climate change didn’t cause Hurricane Harvey. But it made what already was a major storm a hell of a lot worse. Pointing this out is not “politicizing” the issue—it’s stating the obvious. The overwhelming size of Hurricane Harvey and its destruction in Southeast Texas is a frightening warning about the future if we don’t start […]
Hot enough for you? Deadly heat waves likely to get worse
Posted on June 26, 2017 1 Comment
Individual daily heat records are being matched and shattered across the country and around the world. And new research predicts that by the year 2100, climate change means that such heat could expose three-fourths of the world’s population to deadly temperatures. Temperatures in the Southwest are climbing to more than 120 degrees—it was so hot in […]
It’s spring: Time to save the planet
Posted on April 17, 2017 1 Comment
Upcoming weeks offer several opportunities to join the fight against global warming. And in the age of a Donald Trump administration, the environment needs all the friends it can get. Trump is proposing to cut the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency by as much as 31 percent. Climate change research and international climate change […]
You want action on climate change? Elect some scientists.
Posted on February 3, 2017 Leave a Comment
As the nation is forced to deal with an actual President Trump and the climate deniers in his cabinet and in Congress, those opposing him and his party are starting to “grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself,” as President Obama encouraged them to do in his farewell address. But who […]
Now THAT’S how you do solar energy
Posted on December 18, 2015 Leave a Comment
The current winner in the renewable energy push has to be the country of Morocco, which is building a solar energy plant that will leave every other effort in the dust. Or maybe we should say, in the dark. Right now, Morocco imports 94 to 97 percent of its energy from fossil fuels, yet it […]
Climate change pact creates impetus for renewable energy push
Posted on December 15, 2015 Leave a Comment
The historic agreement by nearly 200 countries on climate change was the biggest step ever taken on a world stage to curb global warming. It’s being called “the deal to save the world,” an “opportunity to showcase American ingenuity,” and more. As Vice President Joe Biden might put it, this is a BFD. Many in […]
Bright future for renewable energy around the globe
Posted on November 11, 2015 Leave a Comment
The world’s sources of renewable energy — solar, wind, hydro, and more — are on a path to overtake coal as the world’s most used energy. A new report from the International Energy Agency, “World Energy Outlook 2015,” predicts that “renewables will overtake coal as the largest source of electricity generation by the 2030s.” “Renewables […]
Obama’s bold steps on climate change can’t wait
Posted on August 3, 2015 Leave a Comment
With his new Clean Power Plan, President Obama is taking his boldest action yet on the issue of saving the planet. The new rules are the first ever to impose limits on carbon pollution from power plants. The approach aims for a 32 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, from 2005 levels, by 2030. “We’re […]
Environment success story comes clean in Chicago
Posted on July 22, 2015 Leave a Comment
With the alarming news that even a two-degree Celsius rise in temperature could mean a rise of 10 feet in sea levels over the next 50 years, let’s look at some good news in the environmental arena. In Chicago, an eco-friendly soap manufacturer is planning the world’s biggest rooftop greenhouse, according to a story in […]
