Energy, Climate and the 2020 Election
Will We Ever Break Our Oil Addiction?
By William S. Becker The bombing of oil production facilities in Saudi Arabia this week brings to mind two critical questions about America’s “addiction to oil”. We’ve been asking the first question since the Arab oil embargoes stunned the United
Why We Should Listen to Our Children, Part II
At age 9, Severn Cullis-Suzuki founded the Environmental Children's Organization with a group of friends who, like her, were committed to learning about global climate change and teaching others about it. In 1992 at age 12, Severn addressed the world's
Why We Should Listen to Our Children, Part 1
Greta Thunberg is the teenager who launched a global student strike for climate action. She is one of several young people around the world who have defended their future by chastising us adults for doing too little about global warming.
Time flies. Principles Don’t
By William S. Becker Thirteen years ago, George W. Bush was president. He was no friend of climate action or of sustainable development. I worked at the U.S. Department of Energy at the time, where we were "discouraged" from talking
Latest Poll: U.S. Voters Want Climate Action
Seven in 10 registered voters in the U.S. want the government to do something about climate change. About the same number agree that climate action will be good for business, jobs, and the economy. Those are among the findings from
The Democrats’ Answer to MAGA?
By William S. Becker Student Greta Thunberg, humanity's latest gift from Sweden, is correct of course. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a solar-powered ship, she told the Guardian “I want a concrete plan, not just nice words” about confronting
A “Managed Retreat” from Disasters
By William Becker People everywhere are drawn to the beauty of nature. Tens of millions of us are finding, however, that getting too close can be dangerous. Take floods, for example. More than 40 million Americans, roughly the same as
The Throwback
By William S. Becker As the culling process continues among democrat presidential hopefuls, voters would do well to compare each candidate's environmental record against Donald Trump's. Trump's has been abhorrent. What would his opponents do differently? We don't yet know
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What’s New?
Candidates on Climate Change
So far, 17 of the 23 Democrats running for the presidency have released positions on climate change and most have said they support the Green New Deal. Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee is leading the pack in regard to the level of detail in his proposals. Go here for the latest on the candidate’s climate platforms. Last updated June 24
Getting to 1.5C
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a comprehensive analysis of different fiscal policies for achieving the goals of the Paris climate agreement. It assesses the possible impacts of carbon pricing in the U.S. and other nations, as well as carbon-cutting options that would not raise consumer energy prices. It is a report that presidential candidates and members of Congress would do well to read.
Natural Sinks
If the United States is to achieve a net-zero carbon economy by mid-century, the restoration and care of soils, grasslands, forests and wetlands will be critical. The consulting firm Breakthrough Strategies and Solutions has issued a comprehensive guide on what must happen to maximize the use of these natural carbon sinks. Conservation and changes in land management can provide more than a third of the cost-effective mitigation the world needs to keep global warming below 2oC, the company says. The guide is written for philanthropies, but it contains idea for government policies, too.
Seamless Mobility
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities and the urban population is growing. McKinsey & Company offers a vision of what mobility could look like in cities of the future.
Legal Paths to Decarbonization
The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) at Columbia University is about to publish more than 1,000 specific recommendations for the municipal, state and federal laws necessary for the United States to decarbonize its economy and achieve the goals of the Paris Climate accord. More than 60 experts contributed to the book, titled “Legal Pathways to Decarbonization in the United States”. The editors are Michael Gerrard, Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at the Columbia Law School, and John C. Dernbach, Distinguished Professor of Law at the Widener University Law School. The complete book is 1,100 pages. A shorter version can be downloaded here at no cost.
The Green New Deal
The Green New Deal is a proposal to make a rapid and comprehensive transition to a decarbonized economy, principally by shifting to 100% renewable power generation. Green groups have promoted the idea for some time, but one version is contained in a proposal by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democrat Socialist from New York who was elected to Congress last November.
Options for a Carbon Tax
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued a new analysis of different options for creating a carbon tax. Key issues for Congress, should it take up the issue this session (which it should), include how much the tax should be and how to use its revenues. The most disturbing fact in the CRS report: “…carbon tax analyses do not generally consider the benefits that would be gained by reducing GHG emissions and avoiding climate change and its adverse impacts.” That is information — the cost of doing nothing — that Congress must consider.
12 Years and Counting
Two reports issued last fall shook up the assumption that holding global warming to no more than 2oC above pre-industrial levels would be sufficient to avert catastrophic climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that the much safer goal is 1.5oC.
Climate & Energy
New developments in climate science and the transition to clean energy.
Commentary
Latest news along with blogs by PCAP’s Bill Becker and other prominent commentators.
Kindred Groups & Resources
Other groups working on climate change and the clean energy transition, regardless of political affiliations, along with resources climate activists can use.
PCAP Archive
The most important of PCAP’s previous reports and studies.
“As we peer into society’s future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow.”
“We have, I hope, finally put to rest the false choice between the economy and the environment, for we have the strongest economy perhaps in our history, with a cleaner environment.”
“The great question of the seventies is, shall we surrender to our surroundings, or shall we make our peace with nature and begin to make reparations for the damage we have done to our air, to our land, and to our water?”
“I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that’s beyond fixing.”
“Laws change; people die; the land remains.”