Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1086

Mark Hertsgaard names Generation Hot: Living through the next fifty years on earth

Mark Hertsgaard, the terrific environment correspondent for The Nation (and author of a lot of great books), has a new book coming in January, "Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth." He previews it on HuffPost, reprinted here with his permission.

My daughter Chiara, age five, is a member. So is my goddaughter Emily, age twenty-two. So are the thousands of Pakistani children now suffering after record monsoon rains left 20 percent of their country — an area the size of...

Video: What if oil industry officials spoke the truth?

NRDC has launched an ad campaign mocking the American Petroleum Institute with this gem:

NRDC's Pete Altman blogs, "Turning the Tables on Big Oil's Phony 'Real People' Ads":

America's polluters are worried at the prospect of being held accountable for their … well, pollution.

You may have seen ads from American Petroleum Institute, with the "real people" reciting obviously scripted lines touting the Big Oil line that labels anything big oil doesn't like – clean energy, lower pollution...

Energy and Global Warming News for September 24th: UK opens world's biggest offshore windfarm; GE chief slams U.S. on energy; "Sea snot" explosion caused by BP oil disaster, possibly crippling Gulf food chain?

UK opens world's biggest offshore windfarm

It is a very rare thing for the UK to claim pre-eminence in the much-touted global green economy, so the assembled local dignitaries, industry folk and one cabinet minister were not letting the dismal maritime backdrop put a downer on proceedings.

The official opening of the Thanet windfarm off the coast of Kent – the biggest offshore project in the world – means that Britain generates more power from offshore wind than the rest of the world put t...

Costs and benefits of green buildings - A chart-filled excerpt from the terrific book, "Greening Our Built World: Costs, Benefits, and Strategies"

Recent surveys find that concern over first costs remains the primary barrier to green building. For example, Global Green Building Trends study, released in 2008, reports that of the over 700 construction professionals who responded to the survey, 80% cited "higher first costs" as an obstacle to green building.

Green buildings—designed to use fewer resources and to support the health of their inhabitants—are commonly viewed as more expensive to build than conventional buildings. For example, ...

The Whitman Waffle: Former eBay CEO opposes both Prop 23 and AB 32

Leaders lead.  Whitman waffles.   Wonk Room's Brad Johnson has the story.

In an attempt to ensure that California has neither an old-energy nor new-energy economy, Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has announced her opposition to Proposition 23, the oil-fueled campaign to suspend California's landmark climate law AB 32. Whitman also reiterated her call for a one-year moratorium of AB 32, attacking it as a "job-killer":

While Proposition 23 does address the job killing aspects...

GOP "Pledge To America" is an oath to Big Oil — written by a former Exxon lobbyist!

Daniel J. Weiss authored this Wonk Room cross-post.

House Republicans just released "A Pledge to America," its agenda for the 112th Congress if they take charge. The Republicans claim that their document — written by former Exxon lobbyist Brian Wild — is "one in which the people have the most say and the best ideas trump the most entrenched interests."

When it comes to energy policy, the GOP leaders actually ignore public opinion, ignore science, and instead promote the same old ideas...

This is what global warming looks like

A great NRDC video:

This is what Global Warming looks like from NRDC Broadcast Videos on Vimeo.

Poll: 1 in 5 Americans believe Obama is a cactus - "If the president says he is a human being, I'll take him at his word," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday.

So it's a downer day, as E&E News (subs. req'd) reports:

The House's top Republican watchdog is planning to launch an investigation into international climate data if he takes the helm of the chamber's oversight panel next year.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said a probe of the "Climategate" scandal will top his environmental agenda if the Republicans take over the House next year and he gets the chairmanship.

"For me...

Worst oil company ad in history? - 1947 Shell Research ad touts a tasty salad of rock and asphalt

The people who put this together truly were Mad Men:

This amazing piece of work was apparently in the December 22, 1947 issue of Life (click here).

As BoingBoing notes:  "For reasons I am at a loss to explain, someone at Shell Research once believed that their mission could be made attractive to the public if it was summarized in this advert featuring a slimy petroleum salad."

The ad above strikes me as worse than, though not as ironic as, this one from 1962 toutsing oil's ability to melt...

Koch Industries among hosts of Carly Fiorina fundraiser

Republican Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina will attend a high-dollar fundraiser Thursday night that includes Koch Industries PAC, a conservative megadonor that has been the subject of some high-profile magazine pieces of late.

TPM tells us perhaps all we need to know about Fiorina.

Sure, she flip-flopped on climate action and clean energy in endorsing Prop. 23 (see "Fiorina was for clean energy before she was against it).  And in doing so, she joined the side of the Koch brothers (see "The...