Some anti-logging activists have latched onto a fact like mistletoe on a branch; it looks green but it’s hurting the trees rather than helping. The fact: Trees remove carbon dioxide from the air, and via photosynthesis combine the CO2 with hydrogen to make wood, and expel oxygen. This process pulls CO2 , a greenhouse gas,Continue reading “You’re pulling my Yang. Ten dead-on reasons for using dead tree stuff.”
Tag Archives: Climate Change
Hot Air Cuts California Forests Out of Carbon Offset Program
In order for California’s proposed cap and trade system to be anything but a mockery we need to rip down the “Do Not Disturb” signs on much of California’s forests and commit ourselves to harvesting in California’s forests, even (gasp) clearcutting. Foresters and forest landowners aren’t the only ones who feel this way; the UnitedContinue reading “Hot Air Cuts California Forests Out of Carbon Offset Program”
Clearcutting, Climate Change, and the Center for Biological Diversity
“A clearcut is about as beneficial to the climate as a new coal-fired power plant.” – spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity Spin consumes science Such a sound bite is ‘spin;’ and we should not confuse such political posturing with fact. Perception trumps truth and the California Air Resources Board has caved to politicalContinue reading “Clearcutting, Climate Change, and the Center for Biological Diversity”
Governor Schwarzenegger, AB 32, and Global Warming: Code Redd
“When the search for truth is confused with political advocacy, the pursuit of knowledge is reduced to the quest for power.“- Alston Chase, author of “Playing God in Yellowstone.” ‘Redd’ is another ort in the acronym soup of climate-speak from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); it stands for “Reducing Emissions fromContinue reading “Governor Schwarzenegger, AB 32, and Global Warming: Code Redd”
Environmental Story Trends to Watch: Climate Change
“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” – Danish physicist, Neils Bohr A few posts ago I attempted to list the top environmental stories of the last decade: the Doha development agenda stall, the 2008 economic downturn, Al Gore’s Nobel prize, and others, ending with the Credit Card Reform Act of 2009.Continue reading “Environmental Story Trends to Watch: Climate Change”
IPCC 4th Assessment Report doesn’t agree with the Center for Biological Diversity
Apparently, the Center for Biological Diversity doesn’t agree with the Mitigation Working Group Report [PDF] in IPCC’s 4th Assessment as to the best strategy for mitigating CO2. Photo from south island on New Zealand. “Biomass clearing and site preparation prior to afforestation [i.e. planting] may lead to short-term carbon losses on that site… Accumulation ofContinue reading “IPCC 4th Assessment Report doesn’t agree with the Center for Biological Diversity”
IPCC 4th Assessment Report doesn't agree with the Center for Biological Diversity
Apparently, the Center for Biological Diversity doesn’t agree with the Mitigation Working Group Report [PDF] in IPCC’s 4th Assessment as to the best strategy for mitigating CO2. Photo from south island on New Zealand. “Biomass clearing and site preparation prior to afforestation [i.e. planting] may lead to short-term carbon losses on that site… Accumulation ofContinue reading “IPCC 4th Assessment Report doesn't agree with the Center for Biological Diversity”
Forests and Climate Change, Not Clearcut
Will the Center for Biological Diversity’s lawsuit filed against Cal Fire have the putative result of slowing global warming? Not likely, probably the exact opposite effect.
The Optimistic Environmentalist
As a child of the 1960’s On April 22, 1970, I, along with 20 million others that day, attended one of the first Earth Day celebrations. We had heard the predictions and we were duly frightened. In those days, most of us in the environmental movement worried about air pollution causing another ice age throughContinue reading “The Optimistic Environmentalist”
The Top 13 Environmental Stories of the Aughts
Here is my olio list of profound and profane environmental news of the past decade–the aughts. Hurricane Katrina From the toxic sludge left behind on the land to removal of the vegetative buffers by encroaching civilization, hurricane Katrina exposed so many of our environmental shortcomings, all in one storm. Al Gore’s Inconvenient Nobel Peace PrizeIContinue reading “The Top 13 Environmental Stories of the Aughts”
