And by the way: the ‘global treaties that place environmental/energy regulatory power in the hands of a few’ would actually be an improvement of the current situation with a few fossil fuel companies and their lobbyists in power of our energy supply system; the treaties in question are the outcome of democratic processes, far from perfect, but a lot more ‘driven by individual respect for fellow citizens of Earth’ than the decisions of Big Oil & Coal.

Freakonomics without the facts
Comment is Free, October 23 – I thought I had read enough about Superfreakonomics and its horrifyingly ignorant chapter on climate change to prepare myself for the actual text. But nothing could prepare me for the assault on science, logic and the English language that is this excerpt. Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner managed to pull together just over 43 pages on science they clearly don’t understand, with contradictory assumptions, clichés and gimmicky analogies. The chapter reads like a student term paper, a compilation of various factoids accumulated over the semester but displaying no real grasp of the subject matter.

[ OT, but too nice to miss out: ] Prostitution, for fun and profit
Comment is Free, October 26 – The men behind “Freakonomics” offer a stunningly shallow and flawed view of sex work as a career option for women. (…) Freakonomics, of course, is the science of choosing an appropriately wacky or controversial subject (sumo wrestlers, abortion), applying a little economic analysis to it and coming up with a shocking conclusion that will make people blog about you. In that respect, the how-to-charge-for-sex piece was a no-brainer. (…) Levitt and Dubner seem, at some point along the line, to have missed out on the fact that women have inner lives, lives which do not revolve entirely around servicing men and which may in fact require some servicing by men along the way.
[ but of course, this reviewer too clearly doesn't get it that all the freakonomics-stuff is sheer irony...]

Ailing planet seen as bad for human health
The Washington Post, October 27 – Climate change will make Americans more vulnerable to diseases, disasters and heat waves, but governments have done little to plan for the added burden on the health system, according to a new study by a nonprofit group.
Also see here.

Simple lifestyle tweaks key in climate change fight: study
AFP, October 26 – The United States could cut greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of France’s total annual emissions by getting Americans to make simple lifestyle changes, like regularly maintaining their cars or insulating their attics, a study showed Monday.
Also see here.

Carbon market will do well but ‘may run out of time’
The Malaysian Insider, October 27 – The global carbon industry is expected to perform well this year despite the global financial crisis – but it is fast running out of time, a carbon expert said last week. What it needs is a clear signal from world leaders that there will be a firm price on carbon past the Kyoto agreement which expires in 2012, said fund manager Josh Carmody of the Asia-Pacific Carbon Fund under the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Obama plans big smart grid announcement
Reuters, October 26 – President Barack Obama will announce the largest investment of economic stimulus funds in clean energy during a visit to Florida, an Obama administration official said on Monday. The announcement will involve the smart grid, which will help bring energy from clean domestic sources to consumers in 49 states and help build a strong and more reliable electricity grid, the official said.
Also see here and here (the European situation).

U.S. Chamber President: I don’t know if climate change is real
West Virginia Public Broadcasting, October 26 · In an interview with Politico.com, U.S Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue refused to say if he believes the science behind global warming. ‘Is the science right? Is science not right? I don’t know’, he told the political Web site.

Water officials talk about the impact of climate change on groundwater supplies
Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 25 – As the Earth warms, the rainy months will decrease from four to two (…) And the rain that does fall will come from strong storms that produce a lot of precipitation. The bigger the storm, the more runoff there is and the less water that soaks into the ground and recharges the aquifer that provides some of the county with water for Advertisementdrinking and bathing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r4wn

prospects of saving the world’s coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are being made to freeze samples to preserve them for the future