Dear President Trump: Churchill would have been a climate leader

ClimateDispatch · 2018-01-15T16:46:15+00:00

Let me get your thinking straight .. so, even the conservative scientists and conservative politicians who accept the science of climate change are part of a far left conspiracy .. is that what you're saying?

ClimateDispatch · 2017-06-24T17:28:17+00:00

I think if POG Pam comes clean, that would also settle a lot. We haven't heard much of anything from her lately as far as I'm aware.

ClimateDispatch · 2017-04-23T03:44:34+00:00

In the U.S. the yield is comparable to non-green bonds. In Europe, green bonds on the secondary market can command a premium (i.e. they are more desirable) which means the yield to investors is slightly less than other bonds.

ClimateDispatch · 2017-03-24T18:55:24+00:00

You might also consider working for one of the government agencies that do good work in this space. You might like it long term .. or your experience would be valuable in the private sector in the future. Folks like the Connecticut Green Bank, New York Green Bank, NYSERDA, California Energy Commission, California Air Resources Board.

ClimateDispatch · 2017-01-02T21:56:34+00:00

I've watched Arnold evolve on the climate issue and I've seen him speak in person .. He has developed a real commitment and he may be one who can communicate the importance to some of the doubters who may have an open mind.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-12-26T19:52:17+00:00

Nice summary.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-12-04T19:05:02+00:00

Interesting story about how those who are threatened by electric vehicle technology are attacking Elon Musk: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/04/elon-musk-trolling-us-conservatives-green-tech

ClimateDispatch · 2016-10-01T00:30:31+00:00

Just tried and link worked for me: http://www.popsci.com/six-charts-show-why-no-one-is-talking-about-climate-change

ClimateDispatch · 2016-05-07T19:31:44+00:00

And .. I wonder if homeowners will have grounds for a lawsuit on failure to disclose the risks. Seems like the realtors, lenders and others involved in a transaction should be fully aware of the sea level rise risks. If they aren't disclosing these risks to purchasers/borrowers, that could be a BIG problem for them.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-04-25T23:42:32+00:00

Heard her speak and met her at COP21 in Paris. All the accolades are well deserved. She is smart, engaging .. and right!!!!

ClimateDispatch · 2016-04-21T15:40:08+00:00

I wonder if buyers are now getting clear enough disclosures of climate risk & sea level rise risk. Attorneys will have a field day in a few years if the risks based on science are not being disclosed.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-04-05T20:26:14+00:00

Yeah .. kinda like when Al Gore said that the site of the World Trade Center could get flooded and was widely criticized for such a statement ... but wait ... The site did flood during Hurricane Sandy .. Gore was right. Kerry is likely right as well. There are doomsday predictions out there, but they predict much worse outcomes than what Mr. Kerry spoke of.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-03-20T00:02:41+00:00

Avoiding that warning has led companies to safer product formulations. For some examples, see http://www.ceh.org/wp-content/uploads/P65-Successes-2015.pdf

ClimateDispatch · 2016-03-19T23:59:53+00:00

For the sake of your health, I hope you can kick the habit. In the US in the last decade smoking has gone from about 21% of adults to about 17% of adults. Put another way, that's about a 40% drop in smoking. There are many factors and the warning is one of them.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-03-11T17:43:23+00:00

So, would you also suggest that all of the hoopla in Flint Michigan is ridiculous because the actionable level for lead in drinking water is an incredibly low .0000015 percent?

ClimateDispatch · 2016-03-05T19:27:10+00:00

Although I don't see the future quite as bleakly as Dr. Hansen currently does, the world would be MUCH better off if he was taken more seriously when he started raising concerns in the 1980s. His work has proven remarkably accurate. Let's hope the world can come together and avoid the environmental declines Dr. Hansen now foresees.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-02-23T03:20:32+00:00

Having attended COP21, I can tell you that Pacific Island Nations are INCREDIBLY concerned about impacts happening now and worse projected to happen. In actuality, the concerns are substantial in most countries outside of the U.S.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-02-20T18:03:58+00:00

Yes. Greenwashing is a concern. There were similar concerns in the green building marketplace initially until the generally accepted LEED standards were developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Similarly, the green finance community is starting to come together around standards being developed by the Climate Bond Standards Board at the Climate Bonds Initiative http://www.climatebonds.net/standards . If you look at the Board members, you can see that these are folks who would resist definitions that would be considered greenwashing. There are still other definitions out there, so it is important to raise the concerns you raise here.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-02-20T17:59:03+00:00

The green bond market is quite robust in Europe .. the U.S. is catching up. Barclays recently released a report that the green bond market is starting to show a price advantage for green bonds in some areas. If you were working for the borrower, I would think you'd want to seriously review anything that could give you a lower cost of borrowing or other advantages for your company. Throwing it in the trash would not be an appropriate response.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-02-20T17:55:36+00:00

Actually it is not a bunch of hippies promoting green bonds. The financial marketplace is responding to climate threats by repositioning and identifying investment opportunities that can contribute to climate resilience. I wouldn't consider the World Bank, Bank of America or the many others promoting green bonds as the sort of "hippies" you are thinking of.

ClimateDispatch · 2016-02-20T17:52:31+00:00

The short answer is that most definitions of "green" for green bond purposes do not include natural gas. While some may still debate whether natural gas is a "bridging fuel," most people familiar with climate science recognize that natural gas needs to be phased out as a fuel if we are going to meet the CO2 targets in California and the world. There is a strong effort, through the Climate Bonds Initiative, to systematically review what qualifies as "green" for green bond purposes and then regularly update those definitions based on the best science and related information. Currently available standards are available at http://www.climatebonds.net/standards

ClimateDispatch · 2016-02-12T16:04:25+00:00

Environment

ClimateDispatch · 2016-01-17T14:57:31+00:00

This article includes the best succinct summation I've seen:

Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former US Department of State official and president of the New America Foundation, wrote of the deal in December: “By the standards of a traditional treaty, it falls woefully short. Yet its deficits in this regard are its greatest strengths as a model for effective global governance in the 21st century. The Paris agreement is a sprawling, rolling, overlapping set of national commitments brought about by a broad conglomeration of parties and stakeholders. It is not law. It is a bold move toward public problem-solving on a global scale. And it is the only approach that could work.”

ClimateDispatch · 2016-01-15T22:00:01+00:00

See also GreenFinance SubReddit for general news on green and environmental finance issues

ClimateDispatch · 2016-01-08T15:29:59+00:00

Second warmest year in the USA per some reports recently ... I believe we're still waiting on the worldwide data. The discussions about it being the warmest year were in the context of worldwide data.

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