Tag: Climate Policy

EPA’s greenhouse gas rule poses challenges for US policy review process

by | 2.28.2012 at 12:39pm

Just in case anyone you missed it, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving, albeit almost imperceptibly, toward regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It took one more step in January, published the emissions of 6700 facilities with annual emissions of more than 25,000 MtCO2e. This category of emitters was required to report these figures [...]

Fixing Climate: Beyond Carbon Dioxide

by | 2.21.2012 at 2:25pm
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Climate scientists at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this week were elated to hear that the United States and five other countries had agreed to work toward cutting pollutants other than carbon dioxide thought to cause about a third of current human-influenced global warming. After all, many of them [...]

U.S., 5 Nations to Cut Methane, Soot Emissions

by | 2.17.2012 at 4:02pm | 2 Comments
Redesigning cookstoves is one of the ways to cut emissions of black carbon soot. For a slide show from NASA showing 14 ways to curb emissions that add to global warming and harm human health, click on the photo. (Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

The United States and five other countries agreed this week to fund an effort to cut emissions of methane, soot and other pollutants to start to slow the rate of human-induced climate change.

Climate News Roundup: Week of 2/6

by | 2.13.2012 at 11:03am

Three States to Require Insurers to Disclose Climate-Change Response Plans, New York Times 2/2 California, New York and Washington have announced a new requirement for insurance companies to disclose their plans for responding to climate change risks. The new regulation expands a requirement already in place for the largest insurers in those states. While insurance companies [...]

Enabling Change: Training Development Practitioners in Jordan

by | 1.11.2012 at 1:01pm
Jordanian practitioners at a training on sustainable development

The citizens of Jordan, and elsewhere in the Middle East, must confront challenges of rapid population growth, climate change, poverty, inequality and environmental degradation. A new program run jointly by the Earth Institute and the Institute of Sustainable Development Practice in Amman is helping policymakers and others involved learn the techniques of sustainable development to address some of these issues.

High Hopes and Low Expectations for 17th UN Climate Change Conference

by | 12.8.2011 at 8:30am
Rural protesting what they have called "climate apartheid" outside of UN talks in Durban, South Africa.

Numerous please for comprehensive action aimed at the 17th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa have been issued. However, many doubt that meaningful policies will be passed and have criticized the United States’ position in these talks.

Columbia Climate Center Hosts Workshop on Carbon Management Education and Practice

by | 11.30.2011 at 3:48pm

The Columbia Climate Center convened a workshop, “Carbon Management Education and Practice” at Columbia University on November 3-4, 2011. Over 30 participants from academia, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and government met to discuss the emergence and contours of carbon management as a new educational and professional field. Two days of panels and presentations provided [...]

7 Billion on 10/31: The Numbers Can Be Scary

by | 10.24.2011 at 6:13pm | 4 Comments
Dhaka, Bangladesh, urbanization

You can now watch the tape of “The World at 7 Billion: Sustaining Our Future,” the Earth Institute’s panel discussion held at Columbia Oct. 17 and featuring the presentation by Professor Joel E. Cohen on the “good and bad news” behind the growing world population.

Open House: Earth Institute Graduate Programs

by | 10.21.2011 at 5:55pm | 2 Comments

The Environmental and Sustainable Development Programs Open House is a wonderful opportunity for you to find out more about Columbia’s cutting-edge graduate degrees in sustainable development and environmental studies. We invite you to come explore our diverse offering of programs, have your application questions answered, and meet with current Columbia students and faculty. Attend the Environmental and Sustainable Development Programs Open House on Monday, Oct. 24, Low Memorial Library, Columbia University (116th & Broadway) to learn more about our innovative graduate programs.

New Public Outreach Prize Goes to Earth Institute Climatologist

by | 10.18.2011 at 11:06am
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A major new international prize for public communication on climate-change issues has been awarded to Gavin Schmidt of the Earth Institute-affiliated NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The $25,000 Climate Communications Prize was announced today by the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the world’s largest organization of earth and space scientists. Schmidt, an influential climate modeler who has authored more than [...]