Norm Benson

10,000 attendees set an example at the Cancún shindig

“Global warming is now such a serious threat to mankind that climate change experts are calling for Second World War-style rationing in rich countries to bring down carbon emissions,” environment correspondent, Louise Gray wrote in Britain’s Telegraph under the headline, “Cancun climate change summit: scientists call for rationing in developed world Apparently a fair numberContinue reading “10,000 attendees set an example at the Cancún shindig”

The blind chasing after the blind in Cancún

Briggs over at William M. Briggs, “statistician to the stars,” has a delightfully damning post about Cornell’s delegation to the shindig aka COP 16 [the 16th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] in Cancún.

Weekend Postcard: Lake County

I caught this sunset over Mt Hannah and Salmina Meadow on my mobile phone. I have never been able to get the impact of a sunrise or sunset captured in a mere photo. Still the sky is magnificent and the evening was wonderfully mild.

The Week’s Environmental Story Roundup

Seventeen stories in this week’s roundup. 1. Cancún Climate Change Conference expectations: more hot air The United Nations Climate Change Conference is to be held in Cancún, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010. What is it supposed to do? According to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) website, the conference ”Continue reading “The Week’s Environmental Story Roundup”

Green quotes

“On what principle is it that, when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us.” – Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1830 in Edinburgh Review “You have to have at least one square meal a day to be a conservationist or an environmentalist.” Richard Leakey, quoted by Dr. NormanContinue reading “Green quotes”

Holiday Postcard: The view from the neighborhood, Thanksgiving 2010

It is just another quiet day in the neighborhood and I am thankful for my spouse, my friends, and my family–especially my sons in whom I am delighted as to who they have become. (Grammarians, do I have that right?)

Leaving on a jet plane

According to PR Newswire there is an “initiative to promote aviation biofuel development in the Pacific Northwest” that “will include an analysis of potential biomass sources that are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, including algae, agriculturally based oilseeds such as camelina [wildflax], wood byproducts and others.” Because biomass sources absorb carbon dioxide while growing andContinue reading “Leaving on a jet plane”

Gaming Malthus with “Fate of the World”

I have submitted this to the Record-Bee for my December Green Chain column. “I have observed that not the man who hopes when others despair, but the man who despairs when others hope, is admired by a large class of persons as a sage.” – John Stuart Mill In 1901, while searching for giant clamsContinue reading “Gaming Malthus with “Fate of the World””

Sunday Funny

Weekend postcard: Yosemite

I love this picture perhaps because of the mist on the lens rather than despite the mist. I like the rock in the middle of the stream with water rushing past; it says “stop and smell the shooting stars.”