A role for nuclear power in reducing carbon dioxide emissions is beginning to gain traction. The New York Times recently recommended it, and high-profile environmentalist Michael Shellenberger is an advocate. We asked Robert L. Bradley Jr. where nuclear power should fit in the future energy mix. Bradley is a widely respected energy analyst, founder of…
Search Results for: water
The Snail Darter Is Back
Remember the snail darter (or, more likely, hearing about it)? In 1975, the Endangered Species Act temporarily halted construction of the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River because it would endanger the habitat of the snail darter, a three-inch fish (shown above). The snail darter will be taken off the list, reports Dino Grandoni…
Are Cloth Totes ‘Environmentally Friendly’?
In the past there was a debate over whether cloth diapers were really environmentally better than disposable diapers. The answer: not in areas where water and energy are scarce, because rewashing cloth uses more resources (water and heat) than do plastic and cellulose production and landfill disposal. Now the New York Times poses another environmental…
Search for Profits Will Spur Adaptation to Climate Change
Let’s suppose that global temperatures keep increasing. Can we adapt? Yes, says UCLA professor Matthew E. Kahn, writing for PERC Reports. “As millions of U.S. households and billions of people around the world seek new solutions to adapt to climate change, there is a huge market for firms that can devise products that help people…
Cold, Not Heat, Caused the Most Deaths
Did you know that the number of temperature-related deaths went down between 2000 and 2019 despite rises in global temperatures? That finding appeared in a study in The Lancet: Planet Health, part of the prominent Lancet medical journal chain. Cold-related deaths declined while heat-related deaths increased just barely, saving tens of thousands of lives as…
Prosperity Improves the Environment (We Knew That but Many Don’t)
The 2020 Environmental Performance Index shows a close relationship between environmental success and a country’s GDP. This annual index, developed jointly by the Yale Center for Environmental Policy and Law and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University, ranks 180 countries. Writing on HumanProgress.org, Ethan Yang finds that wealth and environmental…