Island Press Field Notes

Excerpt from Randy Olson's blog, The Benshi Given the sad, flaccid atmosphere lingering around the Cancun climate talks this week (Andy Revkin tells about how the Japanese, who once upon a time hosted the Kyoto meeting that started things, are now the biggest party poopers) it seems like a bad time to talk critically of Al Gore’s effort, but this stuff is important so I ask you to keep your mind open.

Peter Gleick, water expert and Bottled and Sold author, sharply rebukes climate change deniers:

In a dramatic break with recent policy, the Environmental Protection Agency has just formally announced plans to regulate climate changing pollution under the Clean Air Act, declaring clear evidence that greenhouse gases "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people." President Obama has pledged to attend the second week of the COP15 climate change talks in Cope

Over at Fast Company, Terry Tamminen notes the effects that tailpipes might have on human behavior in advance of COP15: New research from Cairo shows that rats become more belligerent when exposed to gasoline fumes and tailpipe pollution. If the same thing happens to humans, that might explain why the guy in the Escalade was waving his Smith & Wesson on the freeway in L.A. the other night, but it may also highlight the co-benefits of a low-carbon economy.