ecotrope - CMS design with a focus on the environment

IPCC and Al Gore split the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:21:06 -0400

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 is to be shared, in two equal parts, between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr. for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.

Indications of changes in the earth's future climate must be treated with the utmost seriousness, and with the precautionary principle uppermost in our minds. Extensive climate changes may alter and threaten the living conditions of much of mankind. They may induce large-scale migration and lead to greater competition for the earth's resources. Such changes will place particularly heavy burdens on the world's most vulnerable countries. There may be increased danger of violent conflicts and wars, within and between states.

The Weekly Dig goes Drupal

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:50:24 -0400

OK, I've actually known about this for some time, since they replaced their site with a blank maintenance page last month. But the new Drupal Weekly Dig site is finally up and running! Drupal perks include: user blogs, user contact forms, personalized signature, and commenting on all print articles. I never particularly liked the old site and the new one still has some kinks in it but I'm glad to see my favorite local culture rag is now running on the community-centric open source software that is Drupal.

The Atlantic hurricane frequency debate

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:53:13 -0400

Reuters is carrying an article with the headline, Study blames climate change for hurricane rise. The paper is also available online (0.4 Mb pdf). The science journalist, Chris Mooney, has a done a good job at putting this story in the context of an ongoing debate within the climatology/meteorological scientific communities.

Is Global Warming Leading to an Increase in the Total Number of Atlantic storms? (Part I: The Debate)

Tropical deforestation shown to be major factor in climate change

Fri, 11 May 2007 12:16:17 -0400

It doesn't come as a total surprise, but a recent study by the Global Carbon Project and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research opened my eyes to the magnitude of the problem.

“Deforestation in the tropics accounts for nearly 20 per cent of carbon emissions due to human activities,” Dr Canadell says. “This will release an estimated 87 to 130 billion tonnes of carbon by 2100, which is greater than the amount of carbon that would be released by 13 years of global fossil fuel combustion. So maintaining forests as carbon sinks will make a significant contribution to stabilising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.”

Arctic ice cap melting much faster than predicted

Tue, 01 May 2007 20:10:00 -0400

Further evidence that the IPCC has been conservative in it's conclusions. From Reuters:

The Arctic ice cap is melting much faster than expected and is now about 30 years ahead of predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.S. ice expert said Tuesday.

This means the ocean at the top of the world could be free or nearly free of summer ice by 2020, three decades sooner than the global panel's gloomiest forecast of 2050.

IPCC on YouTube

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:50:30 -0400

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group 2 made this presentation on April 6, 2007. Each clip is about ten minutes long for a total of an hour.

Part 1 Supreme Court rules that EPA can regulate CO2 - updated

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 11:27:23 -0400

I don't usually post breaking news but this is a big ruling for climate change policy. Here's the AP report:

The Supreme Court ordered the federal government on Monday to take a fresh look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars, a rebuke to Bush administration policy on global warming.

In a 5-4 decision, the court said the Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from cars.

Update: here's the text of the decision (pdf) and an explanation from the Supreme Court blog:

Why Michael Crichton's ban on private jets is a red herring

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 10:21:06 -0400

On Wednesday, a debate sponsored by IQ2US was held on the subject, "Global warming is not a crisis". One of the participants, NASA climatologist, Gavin Schmidt, has posted his thoughts on the debate at RealClimate. The transcript is now available for download and a podcast will be released next week. Personally, I am not so sure that the format of this debate was a good idea, given the equal weighting given to climate scientists and professional "skeptics". Nor do I think that this kind of forum is conducive to an accurate presentation of the science. One can talk in bombastic circles about a topic without ever fully getting to the bottom of it in a way that can be done with simple visual examination of the data. A perfect example of this is Michael Crichton's sarcastic proposal to ban private jets.

Tech Networks makes the front page of the Globe!

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 15:37:52 -0500

Congratulations to Susan Labandibar for the excellent coverage in today's Boston Globe.

Hub firm rises to challenge of green computing

Prodded by fears of global warming and surging electric bills, corporate computer users are demanding more energy-efficient machines, and the federal government is preparing to issue tough new standards for greener machines. Tech Networks of South Boston is ready.

Susan Labandibar gave up a career in environmental activism in 1994 to launch Tech Networks of Boston, which supplies computer networks to small businesses and non profits. But Labandibar never abandoned her ideals, and she was always troubled that the electricity needs of the powerful computers she sold were flooding the air with greenhouse gases.

Gov. Patrick signs RGGI

Sat, 20 Jan 2007 17:01:18 -0500

I'm a little late on posting this story, but it's a good one. Massachusetts has rejoined the most expansive US policy for reducing CO2 emissions.

The main goal of the bipartisan RGGI is to cut emissions of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. As part of the program, the states are set to begin charging power plants fees for carbon dioxide emissions beginning in 2009.

As part of the agreement, states are given "allowances" for emissions. Electricity generators like power plants will need the allowances for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit. Each state has the discretion to distribute the allowances however it wants.

Facelift

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:29:40 -0500

Ecotrope is in the process of undergoing a makeover. The key change here is a switch from a derivative and obsolete theme to a PHPTemplate-based one.

Tech Networks Energy Savings Calculator

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 14:53:56 -0500

This is a sample PHP script that I wrote for Tech Networks. Enter some parameters describing your office computer usage and it calculates energy consumption and potential savings with Tech Network's efficiency improvements. I separated the data from the presentation using the TinyButStrong template engine.

Google goes solar

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 15:07:11 -0400

Glad to see a company with a sense of civic responsibility. The search engine giant is taking a giant leap towards sustainable energy. From the Boston Globe:

The Internet search leader announced what is believed to be the largest solar project undertaken by a U.S. company during a solar energy conference in Silicon Valley on Monday. Google believes the sun eventually can deliver as much as 30 percent of the power at its 1-million-square-foot campus in Mountain View -- a suburb about 35 miles south of San Francisco.

Veto power against Cape Wind passes from Romney to Coast Guard

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 18:04:55 -0400

As the saying goes, politics makes for strange bedfellows.

Congressional leaders reached an agreement on the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm that would give the head of the Coast Guard -- but not the governor of Massachusetts -- the power to order changes to the project or scuttle it entirely if he finds that it would interfere with navigation.

Though the bill would pose another potential obstacle to the Cape Wind Associates project, the agreement is being viewed as a victory for supporters of the wind-energy proposal because it does not award the governor veto power.

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative submits draft model rule for public review

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 18:53:30 -0500

The seven state RGGI (centered around Massachusetts but not including it thanks to Governor Mitt Romney) will be soliciting public feedback for the next sixty days on their draft model rule. The final draft will be released in July and the regulations will take effect in 2009, giving the participating states until 2015 to stabilize their emissions and until 2020 to reduce them by 10%. Although this is a good beginning, it's pretty lax in comparison to the Kyoto Accord, which required their signatories to stabilize their 2010 emissions at 1990 levels.