Howie Chong

A report by the Environmental Law Institute outlines how energy is subsidized in the United States from 2002 to 2008.  Not only are fossil fuels subsidized by nearly $60 billion more than renewables, but for every dollar that conventional fossil fuels are subsidized directly more than $3 are given to companies in the form of tax breaks.

So here’s the question:  would the fossil fuel industry be self-supporting if there were no direct or tax subsidies from governments?

(via BoingBoing)

a granny-friend carbon-free transition (photo by roblisameehan)

Earlier this week, BP announced that it has already spent $3 billion on the Gulf Oil cleanup. Along with the $20 billion fund that the company has promised Obama, the total cost of the oil spill is building dramatically.

Most experts say that this is just the beginning. The Exxon Valdez led to a $4 billion settlement but affected a small fraction of the people that the gushing gulf spill will ultimately effect.  The price tag for this cleanup and the subsequent settlement may rise to the point where people have begun to ask whether or not BP might go bankrupt fixing this egregious environmental disaster.

Some of these people include those who administer the pension plans of millions of ageing workers. It turns out that a significant number of private and public pension funds in the US and the UK hold BP stock. It therefore begs the question: how do we decarbonize our economy if entire generations of retirees are dependent on carbon-intensive industries?

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Yesterday I posted my opinions on the three negative outcomes of the Copenhagen conference on climate change.  Today, we’ll go over the big-picture positives.

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It’s been some time since I’ve posted here, having spent most of January and February (a) recovering from a month away and (b) catching up on work.

Now that I’ve had a nice vacation, caught up on some work and had some time to reflect on the results of the Copenhagen Climate Summit, it’s about time that I get back to writing, blogging and tweeting.

So I thought I’d start off by going over some of the take-home messages from the Copenhagen Conference, starting with the three key negative outcomes.

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With the Bella Center barred to all non-governmental agencies, those unable to enter the main COP15 venue are forced to spend time at other venues if they’re to continue with climate-related events in and around Copenhagen

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