William Happer, emeritus professor of physics at Princeton and an expert on climate, recently explained why today’s “climate frenzy” is not a crisis. Happer spoke at a seminar sponsored by Hillsdale College. Among the highlights: “The best way to think about the frenzy over climate is to consider it a modern version of the medieval…
Category: The Environmental Blog
The Grim Debate over Deaths from Air Pollution
Some very smart people are trying to figure out whether, where, and to what extent air pollution is a killer. Most recently, Tyler Cowen wrote in Marginal Revolution about a new study claiming that 10.2 million people die from pollution by fine particulates (particles 2.5 microns or lower) each year. Sixty-two percent of those premature…
Laugh a Little: Climate Predictions and How They Panned Out
Paul Homewood of the Global Warming Policy Forum has put together recent predictions of climate change. A few: A Looming Ice Age. Numerous reports in the 1970s reflected concern that the Earth was heading towards a new ice age. These are nowadays often dismissed as mere newspaper gossip, but they were far more than that….
Supreme Court Nixes Sierra Club FOIA Request, Protects ‘Deliberative Process’
Although most non-classified documents are available to the public, there are exceptions. The Supreme Court told the Sierra Club on March 3 that it could not have access to draft documents prepared in 2013 by staff members of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Amy Coney Barrett wrote the 7-2…
Your Electric Vehicle May Not Be as Eco-Friendly as You Think
Your electric car is using electricity produced elsewhere, often by coal-powered plants, write New York Times reporters Hiroko Tabuchi and Brad Plumer. Thus it could be producing more carbon dioxide emissions than you think. To the writers, who espouse reducing carbon emissions, this is a potential weakness of electric cars. “’Coal tends to be the critical factor,”’said…
The Real Reason for a Climate Czar in Treasury?
The Treasury Department doesn’t need a climate czar, says Gregory Zerzan in the Wall Street Journal. Perhaps the Biden administration has devious reasons for appointing one. At her confirmation hearings, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen said the department would “seriously look at assessing the risk to the financial system from climate change.” She is currently seeking…