May 29 2009

Climate Changes

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

Several news stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:

• Bad news out of London: A new report released today estimates that 300,000 people a year are already dying from the effects of global warming. Annual economic losses may total more than $125 billion. Both of those figures are expected to more than double by 2030. The report, authored by international climate and development experts, was published by the Global Humanitarian Forum.
• Good news out of China: Senator John Kerry said some of the "most constructive and productive talks" ever held with China over climate change leave him "very optimistic at the possibility of producing a successful outcome in Copenhagen." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of the talks with China, "I do see this opportunity for climate change to be . . . a game-changer."
• Lighten up: Secretary of Energy Steven Chu made a pitch for whitening the world's roofs and paved surfaces to reflect more sunlight as a strategy for combating global warming. Chu praised his friend Art Rosenfeld, a colleague at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and member of the California Energy Commission, for demonstrating the remarkable potential of this simple tactic. In a recent research note with Hashem Akbari, Rosenfeld calculates that white roofs could offset as much CO2 as taking all cars off the road around the world for 18 years. Check out NEXT100's detailed post on their research from last fall.
• Do the math: If you like the idea of cap-and-trade markets for carbon emissions but worry that the new Waxman-Markey bill is a giveaway to utilities, check out this detailed analysis by two eminent energy experts, Peter Fox-Penner and Marc Chupka, on Climate Progress. As they note, the bill basically ensures that free allowances will ease the transition for customers without creating windfall profits for shareholders. In another analysis of the bill, Harvard economist Robert Stavins explains why giving away emissions allowances rather than selling them at auction "affects neither the environmental performance of the cap-and-trade system nor its aggregate social cost."

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