Patent law has a dirty history. A legal mechanism refined in the industrial revolution, patent law has sought to encourage manufacturing and industry – the ‘Progress of Science and the Useful Arts’. Patent law has provided incentives for research and development for a wide range of polluting technologies, such as oil, coal, gas.
Tag:
fossil fuel
U.N. Climate Chief Says Coal Industry Must Leave Many Reserves in the Ground
written by Yale Environment 360
United Nations climate chief Christiana Figueres said that coal power can be part of the solution to curbing global warming, but it would require shuttering older coal power plants, advancing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, and resolving to leave much of the planet’s existing coal reserves in the ground.
Major Pension Funds Question Long-Term Outlook For Fossil Fuel Profits
written by Yale Environment 360
Leaders from some of the largest pension funds in the U.S. and the world are concerned about the future profitability of fossil fuel companies, and they have asked those companies to report on their plans for managing a long-term shift toward renewable energy.
Managers of 70 major pension funds, which together
As described here, legendary environmentalist Bill McKibben’s suggestion that folks sell their holdings in fossil fuel companies has been accepted by a gathering wave of universities, churches and synagogues, city governments and pension funds. According to the article, “In the last few months, fossil fuel divestment has turned into one of the fastest-growing protest
Nuclear Power Has Prevented 1.84 Million Premature Deaths, Study Says
written by Yale Environment 360
The use of nuclear power from 1971 to 2009 prevented more than 1.8 million premature deaths related to air pollution and 64 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions, a new study says.
Using historical production data and estimates of mortality per unit of electricity generated, scientists
Scientist’s U.S. Road Trip Reveals Higher Methane Emissions Than Previously Known
written by Yale Environment 360
Methane measurements collected during a scientist’s road trip across the U.S. indicate that local emissions of the potent greenhouse gas are higher than previously known in many regions.
Using a gas chromatograph mounted to the roof of a rented camper, Ira Leifer of the University of
Here’s a lengthy but excellent article from The Atlantic: “What If We Never Run Out of Oil?”
It certainly is an interesting concept – one that I find quite credible. For instance, we have recently discovered untapped reservoirs of methane hydrate (think of it was combustible ice) that collectively is the volume of the Mediterranean Sea.
Making good on his promise to fight climate change more aggressively in his second term, President Obama is unveiling two major initiatives to reduce the U.S.’s reliance on fossil fuels, including a new $2 billion Energy Security Trust to fund the next generation of green vehicles, as well as new reviews of federal projects to assess their climate impacts.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased by 2.67 parts per million in 2012, marking the second-biggest jump since levels were first recorded in 1959 and decreasing the chances that the planet will avoid a dangerous temperature increase of 3.6 degrees F (2 C) or higher, U.S. scientists say.
Hundreds of activists from across the country are converging at Swarthmore College for the first-ever fossil fuel divestment convergence. The student-led PowerUp! Divest Fossil Fuel Convergence is taking place from February 22-24, and will include keynote addresses from influential activists, grassroots organizing trainings, and direct action.
I’m fascinated by the dynamics at work in our society that surround climate change. The United States is notably sluggish in its response to the challenge, and, perhaps because of this, certain groups with progressive ideals are getting fairly militant. One example is the Sierra Club, which, after 120 years of law-abiding environmental advocacy, announced recently that it
New satellite data released by NASA provide dramatic visual evidence of the dangerous air quality reported from cities across Asia and the Middle East this month.
Based on data collected from its satellite-based Ozone Monitoring Instrument, a map released by NASA scientists illustrates high levels of nitrogen
A new report compiled by Greenpeace International and the Global Wind Energy Council on the future of the wind industry and released yesterday in Beijing says wind power could supply up to 12 percent of global electricity by 2020, creating 1.4 million new jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 1.5 billion tons per year, more than 5 times today’s level. By 2030,
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