Commentary Archive

If I asked you what a DVD is, chances are you wouldn't have too much trouble coming up with - a round plastic disk, similar to a CD, that holds movies. We say, "let’s watch a DVD" or "when is that movie coming out on DVD" with relative ease. The term DVD is a big success. It is only 12 years old and techie terms or products don’t usually get adopted so quickly when the term does not help say what it is. Let’s take a look at some of the new global warming terminology and see how those terms are doing.

Artist Bob Staake has produced a wonderful, iconic illustration for the Independence Day edition of The New Yorker magazine. He calls it “Bright Idea” and I love it.

Whenever I give my 30 second description of EnergyRace.com, a community where you not only calculate your carbon footprint but you track your progress in reducing your footprint, people always ask me how are you going to make money?

Why is it that when scientists say that we are burning so much coal, oil and gas that it is affecting our climate patterns that there is such a virulent backlash? When environmentalists say that we should be aggressive in switching to clean energy sources why does a vocal minority get apoplectic?

Last week we looked at the bad news about increases in US greenhouse gases from 2000-2004. Here is some good news.

After increasing an average of 1% per year in the 1990's, carbon dioxide emissions have increased to 3% worldwide.

Congressmen Tom Davis (R-VA) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) have called on the GAO to study carbon offset markets.

As we look at carbon offsets, what can we learn from how Daycare Centers try to get parents to do the right thing and be on time for child pickup.