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Top blue bar image Experiences from COP15
Rice takes on Copenhagen
 

Archive for the ‘Telling your grandchildren you saved polar bears: Priceless, by Yves’ Category

The end of the saga, I

Monday, December 21st, 2009

You know you’ve had a long day when your alarm clock rings for the second time and you can’t remember going to bed. That’s exactly the situation I found myself in last night upon arriving in Houston – my iPod making the desperate chirping noise to let me know it was officially 4 a.m. in Copenhagen. The brutal wakeup earlier that day, over 5000 miles and what seemed like worlds away, came only about five short hours after President Obama’s press broadcast, in which he repeatedly stressed the political agreement (read: hogwash) that came out of COP15. Coincidentally, by the time I woke up on that very early and cold Saturday morning in Denmark, Mr. Obama’s Air Force One jet had already re-entered American atmosphere and had probably touched down in D.C. (more…)

The lost (?) art of carbon taxation

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

world-carbon1Given that climate change is occurring and that it results from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, international focus must now shift to finding ways to successfully mitigate the growing problem. Since the industrial revolution, the world has used roughly half of its carbon dioxide budget, which is defined as the total amount of carbon dioxide that can be released into the atmosphere such that global mean temperature rises (from pre-industrial reference) do not exceed two degrees Celsius. However, because carbon dioxide emission rates continue to grow, the timescale associated with the burning of this second half of the budget is considerably less than the one of the first half (1850-2010, or roughly 160 years). The image below presents a distortion of the world map which displays country size proportional to carbon dioxide emissions: (more…)

At your HEB: Carbon apples

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

There are very few things that climate scientists, CEOs and politicians can all agree on, but it seems that they all love metaphors and catchphrases. Successful talks teem with these word wizardries and over time, one hears some of the particularly successful ones recycled in various contexts. In this manner, what started out as a mere expression actually becomes an acknowledged term. One of these champions of the lexicon is the “low-hanging fruit”. (more…)

The people came from all over, but the cameras were all Japanese

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

I woke up this morning (at regular intervals characteristic of jetlag) to find myself filled with the spirit of, to quote numerous billboards around the capital,  “Hopenhagen”. If all went smoothly I would be registered as a Non-Government Observer (NGO) observer at the COP15 before mid-morning. After an auspicious start with a truly magnificent breakfast buffet, I left for the Bella Center and quickly discovered I wasn’t the only one excited about the second week of climate action.

(more…)

How full is your glass?

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

When talking about the climate change conference in Copenhagen, people generally fall into one of two groups. On one side of the table, there are the optimists who gleefully hold their proverbial half-full glasses. Seated on the opposite end, the pessimists exchange forlorn glances and rueful shakes of the head.

Then there’s me. And I’m trying hard not to spill my cup. (more…)