Tag Archives: climate change

Texas State Climatologist on the EPA and greenhouse gases

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Did you know that Texas had a State Climatologist? I didn’t. His name is John Nielsen-Gammon, he’s a professor at Texas A&M, and you should read this brief interview in Think Progress about his opinions on carbon dioxide, the Environmental … Continue reading →

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Seeing gold in green

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Denying climate change and the adverse effects of carbon dioxide may be official policy of our Republican leaders, but word has apparently not filtered down to the business entrepreneurs whose capitalistic opportunism those Republicans usually lionize. “Energy is the biggest … Continue reading →

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Texas takes a stand in favor of global warming

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There was a time when stuff like this would have surprised me. But then, there was a time when being anti-science wasn’t a point of pride for the Republican Party. Texas on Tuesday became the first state to challenge the … Continue reading →

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If we’re looking for revenue to help deal with that budget gap…

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

We could always follow the lead of many other states and adopt our own climate plan. Already, ten states in the Northeast have put their electric utilities under a cap-and-trade system known as RGGI. Eleven Western states and Canadian provinces … Continue reading →

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EPA public hearing on hazardous ozone standards in Houston

Posted on January 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The following was sent to me from the Sierra Club: Right now the EPA is accepting public comments on proposed new ozone standards that will make the air we breathe cleaner and our communities healthier, but they are facing fierce … Continue reading →

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More or stronger?

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

If we’re talking about hurricanes, neither sounds like an attractive choice. A new study with the most extensive computer modeling of storm activity to date suggests the overall number of Atlantic storms will fall 30 percent by century’s end, but … Continue reading →

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How green is your website?

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here are two thoughtful and interesting posts about data centers and carbon neutrality from my friend and Trinity classmate Robert Nagle; a postscript with some added thoughts is here. I’m glad to see that my webhost does pretty well in … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed to force TCEQ to regulate greenhouse gases

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, if you want the TCEQ to do its job, you need to file a lawsuit against them to make them do it. Which is what Public Citizen did on Tuesday, with a request to stop the permitting of coal-fired … Continue reading →

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If that’s your best, your best won’t do

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We may never actually comply with federal clean air regulations. Texas’ new plan to improve the Houston area’s famously dirty air may not meet federal limits for smog. The pollution-fighting plan that state regulators are rolling out today predicts marked … Continue reading →

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Wyoming and wind

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting story about the boom in the wind energy industry out west and how some of that is bumping up against private property and NIMBYism, but what caught my eye was this bit: Wyoming and the West are home to … Continue reading →

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Bryan Shaw

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

One gets used to disappointments with Rick Perry. In late 2007, the appointment of Bryan Shaw, a Texas A&M professor and air pollution expert, to the three-member board that oversees the state’s environmental agency drew praise from a prominent government … Continue reading →

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Hot enough for ya?

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Yeah, it’s really hot out there. Houston’s relentless heat wave prompted the National Weather Service today to declare a “Heat Emergency,” a designation that air temperature and humidity is a potential health threat for all people and is particularly dangerous … Continue reading →

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Voting right on climate change, part 3

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go again. The late-stage whip count on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 has produced a particular political irony. A measure crafted by two Democrats in the House of Representatives — Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) … Continue reading →

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Did Tom DeLay do us a favor on climate change?

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Via Yglesias, I see that one of the biggest impediments to a real solution for climate change is Minnesota Democrat Collin Peterson, who is the chair of the Agriculture Committee. This has Chris Bowers thinking outside the box. Here is … Continue reading →

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Town hall meeting on climate change

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from the office of State Sen. Rodney Ellis: Houston Residents to Dialogue with National Experts on Climate Change Impacts Joint Center’s Climate Change Commission Hosts Town Hall Meeting WHO: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (Joint … Continue reading →

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Green and Gonzalez get plaudits for climate change bill

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

After all the haranging I did on this, the least I can do is to note this. The Obama administration joined environmentalists Friday in heaping praise on Texas Democratic Reps. Charlie Gonzalez and Gene Green for helping climate change legislation … Continue reading →

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More on Gene Green and climate change

Posted on May 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a followup story on the eventually successful negotiations among members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the cap-and-trade bill. Climate change legislation moving through Congress would give refiners free permits to emit greenhouse gases under a compromise … Continue reading →

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Voting right on climate change, take two

Posted on May 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Yo, Democrats. You were given a mandate this past November. Please act like it. Democratic leaders pushing to cap greenhouse gas emissions were working Wednesday to appease key lawmakers who want to ease the financial burden that the climate change … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Voting right on climate change

Posted on May 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It is, of course, a good thing that President Obama has Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress as he tries to get his agenda implemented. That doesn’t mean he’ll have smooth sailing, of course – between the weirdly ahistorical … Continue reading →

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White wins one from EPA

Posted on April 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Score one for the Mayor. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to Mayor Bill White’s request to overhaul its methods for estimating emissions from large refineries and chemical plants, a move that could reveal higher pollution levels. In response … Continue reading →

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Mammoth extinction: Not our fault

Posted on June 13, 2007 by Charles Kuffner

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m relieved to hear this. Paleontologists long have assumed that massive hunting by humans led to the extinction of the woolly mammoths about 12,000 years ago. New genetic analysis indicates, however, that inbreeding … Continue reading →

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