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Terry Tamminen: "Cop" to It Now: An Empty-Handed US Will Be a Party-Pooper

By Terry Tamminen / On April 15th, 2009
The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) sounds like a contradiction in terms--conferences are business-like and dull while parties are, well, fun! But COP 15 is actually the formal name of the annual gathering of nations that participate in the UN's effort to curb climate change and the "party" is about half a year from now in Denmark. Will the US arrive with little more than a tourist map of Copenhagen and some well-worn stories about China being the world's leading emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs)?
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Anthony D. Barnosky: Now for Some Good News

By Anthony Barnosky / On April 10th, 2009
My extended family tells me they're getting a little depressed about hearing all the bad things that might happen from global warming. So I guess it's time to point out that maybe it's not as bleak as it seems. Here's the good news.
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Sowing seeds of good health and of unity

By Ann Vileisis / On April 6th, 2009
Ever since President Obama took office in January, he's kept his eye on the grand prize of making political discourse more civil. He's held up the ideal that Democrats and Republicans can find common ground and move beyond shrill partisan warring that has characterized politics for the last twenty-five years. In looking for places to boost this unifying project, the sunny patch of common ground on the White House lawn holds great promise.
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Hoping for the Best

By Anthony Barnosky / On April 3rd, 2009
I admit it. In my heart of hearts, I'm hoping for the best. Those scenarios of climate change we see splashed across the newspapers and magazines include a wide range of possibilities, and I keep my fingers crossed that we'll end up closer to the best case. But just three weeks ago the best case got a lot worse. A group of climate scientists meeting in Copenhagen announced that sea level very likely is going to rise almost twice as much as we thought.
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After the Storm

By Anthony Barnosky / On March 18th, 2009
When you’re in the middle of a forest fire, trees exploding all around you, smoke burning your lungs, and fireballs dropping from the sky, it’s hard to think about much except getting out of there alive.  That’s kind of where we are with thinking about global warming nowadays—the direct impacts on people.  How many lose their homes when sea level rises?  What new diseases are going to make their way out of the tropics?  How many dollars will it take to cut carbon emissions?
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Peter Newman's Resilient Cities: The Sustainable Transport City

By Peter Newman / On March 12th, 2009
Cities, neighborhoods and regions will be designed to use energy sparingly by offering walkable, transit-oriented options for all supplemented by renewably-powered electric plug-in vehicles. Cities with more sustainable transport systems have reduced ecological footprint from their reduced fossil fuels and greater chance of enhancing their ecology through reduced urban sprawl and car-based infrastructure.
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The Place-Based City

By Peter Newman / On March 2nd, 2009
The sixth Resilient City model is the Place-Based City.
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Obama Needs Churchill 101

By Jonathan Isham / On February 25th, 2009
In times of great trial, the best politicians strive for Churchillian rhetoric – or better yet, simply quote Churchill.  And in tough times, no quote resounds more than Churchill’s memorable assessment, in late 1942, of the Battle of El Alamein, the first major British victory in WW II: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

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