Energy and Climate Forum at Princeton University

An interesting series of lectures from the University Channel Podcast that has just been uploaded; audio and video here.

Pt 1 - Welcome and Introduction. (length 48:09)

• H. Vincent Poor, Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Michael Henry Strater University Professor of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University
• Charles M. Vest, President, National Academy of Engineering, and President Emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Robert Socolow, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University: Living in a Greenhouse with the Help of Stabilization Wedges
  

Pt 2 - Interconnections between Air Pollution, Climate Change and Health (length 34:55)

• Denise Mauzerall, Associate Professor of Public and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
  

Pt 3 - Carboholics: The Power Industry and Global Warming (length 49:43)

• David Crane, CEO, NRG Energy
  

Pt 4 - Sustaining African Landscapes: Fostering Conservation and Development through Science and Engineering (length 39:16)

• Daniel Rubenstein, Professor and Chair, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University
  

Pt 5 - How much technology do we need to solve the climate problem? (length 43:42)

• Stephen Pacala, Fredrick Petrie Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Director, Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton University

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New Radio Ecoshock interviews hot off the recording decks.

Alex Smith over at Radio Ecoshock produces a continuous stream of good climate change related discussions and interviews; so head on over and check out the extensive archives.

The latest shows that Alex has just informed me about cover:

1. The state of current climate science as compared to the latest IPCC 4AR. (MP3)
2. The denial tactics used by the fossil fuel industry, a talk by Ross Gelbspan.(MP3)
3. Tim Flannery talking about the sort of problem that climate change represents and some insperation for solutions from the past.(MP3)

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Ken Caldeira:Why we need zero net emmissions of ghg's

Alex over at Radio Ecoshock passed this over to me, a facinating program by Ken Caledira of the Carnegie Institute speaking over at the amazing 3CR community radio out of Melbourne, Australia.

News climate science interview.

"And our simulations only went out about five hundred years, but at the end of five hundred years, you more or less have about as much warming as you had at the maximum warming after the CO2 emissions. And so this idea, that "Oh, this CO2 emission warms the Earth, and then in a century, or two centuries, it's mostly away" is really the wrong picture. More accurate is to say that each emission of CO2 produces a step, you know, increase in temperature that remains pretty much level for many centuries, and then decays away over many thousands of years."

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tWP75: The Carbon Taxman

The latest episode of TheWatt Podcast is out now. (30MB, MP3)

Panel discussion podcast with Mark Seall, Rod Adams, Robb Worthington and Ben. Topics include carbon taxes vs cap-and-trade policies, OECD Environmental Outlook, nuclear power in the UK, carbon limits on cars in the EU, $106/bbl oil.

Panelists:

Mark Seall - Talk Climate Change and Green Options

Rod Adams - The Atomic Show Podcast and Atomic Insights

Robb Worthington - Sustainable Living

Ben Kenney - theWatt

Topics/Show Notes:

A good carbon tax/cap-and-trade discussion

2008 OECD Environmental
Outlook - How much will it cost to address today's key environmental problems?

Showdown between France and Germany: Carbon emission limits on cars in
the EU

UK 'to seek more nuclear power',

Nobel winner: Nuke power
must be part of the equation

Oil prices/OPEC giving Bush some tough love

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Convictions For Activists - Climate Criminals Walk Free

Via Indymedia.

"On the 10th April 2007, 11 people walked into the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station and locked on to the coal conveyor and assorted plant there. Their objective was to take direct action to halt operations and thus to diminish the CO2 emissions of the E-on plant, the greenhouse gas thought to be largely responsible for climate change. They were all charged with aggravated trespass and throughout the court case (which lasted for 3 days), the defendants argued that yes, they did take these actions, but employed the defence of "duress of circumstances" or necessity, and pleaded not guilty.

On Monday 25th Feb, 10 defendants (one having had the charges dismissed due to lack of evidence) returned to court to receive the judgement. Judge Cooper had earlier said that he wished to compliment all the defendants on the way they had handled themselves and on the presentation of their case. However all were found guilty."

This  event was covored by RiseUp Radio: The March Show. 

This trial was interesting due to the defence being used. The accused stated that they where  forced to take this course of action bearing in mind the threat posed by climate change if inaction where to be the chosen course of action.

Throughout the court case [described in the links below], the defendants argued that yes, they did take these actions, but employed the defence of "duress of circumstances" or necessity, and pleaded not guilty.

At the beginning of the case, there was legal argument on if the court would hear this defence. It did and the case was proceeded with in making such argument. It is thought to be the first case dealing with environmental matters, that this defence had been employed.

Clearly the judge decided that this was not an acceptable defence. Working in new legal territory caution is the order of the day and the judge ruled that a narrow view of this type of defence was required to avoid abuse and a breakdown of social order. I understand this logic, however, caution cuts both ways. The threats on either side of the argument are social disorder and danger from inaction respectively; whilst a broad interpretation opens up the possibility of abuse, so does a narrow definition. Choosing a narrow definition errs on the side of the status quo--assuming current conditions are more likely to be acceptable--whereas choosing an expansive definition errs on the side of change.

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Think Globally Radio

Sometimes it strikes me that society is in an extrodinarily good state. Now, you may be thinking that i have finally lost my mind. In fact, no, i`ve been reading some history. I`ve been reading about the Black history in the US. One of the striking aspects about this strugle for eqaulity is the period of time involved in overcomming this gross injustice. Even after the American revolution and the 'emancipation of the slaves' Blacks where far from free. The Jim Crow laws implemented a new injustice on former slaves. It was nearly 100 years from the 13th Ammendment ending slavery untill the overthrow of the Jim Crow laws!

Today we seek to utterly transform society, from fossil powered to renewable energy future, from exponential economic growth to qaulitative evolution. Ideas spread across the world at the speed of light, and the range of people who can contribute to this quest is vast. Two recent developments exemplify the remarkable connectedness of global knoledge. Mearly two years ago the thirst for biofuels seemed unquenchable. The down sides didn't seem to exist, the world was on a dangerously naive path. How rapid has the change been since then? Report after report warning of the dangers, biofuels have a future but a closely monitored one. Not least by nacent NGO Biofuelwatch. On the more positive side, Bus Rapid Transit. BRT first reached my attention 6 months ago. It's orogins are admitedly some two decades past in Curitiba, Brazil, but international attention on this system has grown to such a point that there can scarecely be a major city that dosent understand the concept. The world is full of smart people and great ideas, this knoledge is now accessible readily by everyone with a computer, such a state of affairs is unprecidented and hugely encouraging.

I just came across another great source of radio programmes, an english language radio show from Stockholm. Think Global Radio has a superb collection of shows, enjoy!

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[UPDATE] Interview on Canadian Carbon Tax

Thanks to Alex from Radio Ecoshock for the link he left as a comment to my post on an innovative carbon tax that British Columbia is introducing.

Interview on the carbon tax and scientific sensorship.

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TheWatt podcast is back!

One of the first podcasts that I ever subscribed to was TheWatt, a cleantech and climate change podcast. I went on a couple of shows, and will be doing so again soon. The host Ben Kenney is planning to have pannel sessions of around 4 cleantech/climate bloggers for shows every couple of weeks. If you are interested then you can let me know, or contact ben on ben[at]thewatt.com

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Scientists Review 'An Inconvenient Truth'

Penn State scientists give thier views on, and then carry out a q&a, about Al Gore's film 'An Inconvenient Truth.

• Download discussion as mp3.

Related:

• Video of Al Gore giving a slideshow which was later made into the film.

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Rock Ethics Institute: Climate Change and Ethics Talks

Arguements on climate change, seem to have receeded from the mainstream. However, some of the premises used have not been publically discredited. For example the case for action was hindered by arguments based on certainty of the science, we have largely stopped having these arguments as the science is solid: we have a problem. However, there are still error bars around various climate impacts, a good example being sea level rise. So this sort of argument will raise it's ugly head again. What is needed is a more clear eyed look at the decison being made. Who has the right to decide weather a certain level of climate change is dangerous? What is the moral case for developed nations cutting emissions slowly, while the risk is placed on the inhabitants of low island developing states? Climate change arguments are widely distorted in the media, a whole range of arguments need to be grounded in a moral framework. So many of the cliched arguments are based on premises which if applied to every day situations would bee seen as farsical. The Rock Ethics Institute at Penn State University is looking at these issues in detail.

A few interesting talks from the Rock Ethics Institute.

• Ethical dimensions of geoengineering. (mp3)
• Science of Climate Change. Richard Alley (mp3)
• C02 sequestration. Klaus Lackner. (mp3)
• Economic Discounting in the Stern Review. (mp3)
• Climate Change and Pensalvanias' clean energy future. Katie McGuinty. (mp3)

Related:

• Past posts on Climate Justice.
• Past posts containing audio.

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Sex, Lies, and Reformist Economic Concepts

Their is not much multi-media content online about Herman Daly. That's a shame as he has a lot of important ideas. However i have just found a talk that covers
some of Daly's ideas.

Thomas Prugh, State of the World 2008 co-director, Worldwatch Institute, introduces (MP3) the fundamental principles of sustainable economies and outlines a roadmap for achieving them.

Related:
Blog posts on economics (including sustainability).
Post on Herman Daly.
Me talking on sustainability (1, 2) (before reading Beyond Growth and Limits of Growth).

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Ray Anderson of Interface Speaks on Sustainability in Practice

Ray Anderson is one man who dosent believe in greenwash, speaking of his companies move towards sustainability by revolutionising manufacturing of carpets he says:

"And to complete the business case, the goodwill of the market place has been astonishing. No amount of advertising, no amount of marketing expenditure
could have done as much."

In this recent talk via the Worldwatch Institute, Ray gives an inspiring speech on Natural Capitalism. Ray speakes elloquently on the work of Amory Lovins, Lester Brown, William McDonough and Paul Hawken. It's quite a tour de force by the founder of flooring giant Interface!

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A look at the future: transit, transit oriented development and new urbanism.

The US has done a lot of great things, started a lot of great trends and often inspired the world. It also created the concept of Suburbia and has created some of the worlds greatest examples of sprawl, some countires are following suit. But the US is finally moving away from this development trend, largely for demographic reasons.

This lecture explains well the nobel reasons for Suburbia, the subsidies that supported the idea and a discription of some new ways to develop. My favourite quote

"This is not ment to be a political statement, but if we had not faught a war in iraq qw could have put 50 of these light rail systems in place for every week that we have been in Iraq for the last five years."

There is also a discussion of a study carried out into the cost of each additional unit of housing in
a certain city, the outcome is that in the downtown areas at higher density the cost is around 1000 dollars per house for the council. For suburban areas the cost is around 22'000 dollars per unit.

Virginia Tech New Metropolist Lectures Series: "Thinking Big: Leasons from The Washington Metro" podcast, presentation.

To me, the best examples of urban development are transit oriented, having either trams, underground or bus rapid transit at the core. Perhaps the best example of Bus Rapid Transit in the world.

Bus Rapid Transit in Bogota. Video.

One of the best reasons for developing around transit stops is the reduced expenditure
on transportation costs and the consequent greater level of access to jobs for all
sectors of society.

University of Oregon, School of Architechture and Allied Arts. Shelly Poticha speaks on "Building the Livable Region: Transit Oriented Development and Development-Oriented Transit" podcast.

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Mobilising capital to save the planet.

A podcast with some positive and some negative aspects of moving money into climate change: mitigation (the positive part) and disaster preparedness (investments with a vaguely profiteering feel).Also, a very clear statement of the need for significant carbon pricing now! Mark Fulton.

Responsible Profit: Perspectives from Deutsche Asset Management

Bringing capital into play is the pragmatic and profitable response to climate change, says Fulton. Governments are creating a price for carbon, explicitly through emissions trading and implicitly through taxes, subsidies, and standards.

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Audio from the CNU 2007 Transportation Summit

The CNU 2007 Transportation Summit has been covered in this blog several times, the presentations are now available online as is audio from the conference:

Use the timetable to decide what you want to listen to. Or watch.
 
Day 1 Morning:               Audio Quality: Muddy    
Day 2 Early Morning:     Audio Quality: Muddy    
Day 2 Morning:               Audio Quality: Clear      
Day 2 Early Afternoon:  Audio Quality: Clear
Day 2 Mid Afternoon:     Audio Quality: Clear
Day 2 Late Afternoon:    Audio Quality: Clear



 

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UNFCCC Bali Climate Conference: Audio and Video Coverage

Audio and video will soon be flooding out of the Bali climate talks. I will post links to the various events and briefings here.

So far:

• The National Environment Trust have held an audio briefing 'Bali: What is at stake?'
• The World Business Council on Sustainable Development have created a youtube account for there events at the conference.
• Indonesia president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has stated that he wants to place indonesia at the forefront of climate mitigation.
• Joshua Busby, University of Texas on the key challenge of Bali.
• UNFCCC offical Youtube Channel with daily coverage of Bali conference.
• Enviromedia coverage 'Bali or Bust': updates live from the Bali conference.
• Tropical Forest Group vlog about deforestation and climate change from Bali.
• Live on demand webcast from the confernece!
• Video from Bali thanks to 'StepItUp' includes fossil of the day awards.

New Internationalist explores the global climate change situation (MP3).

1. Chandra Bhushan - Associate director and head of the Industry Unit at Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi, India - advocates how India can accelerate development in ways that minimize its emissions.
2. EcoEquity's Tom Athanasiou - argues that it's the countries of the Rich World, not the Poor World, which are responsible for climate change, and now it's their responsibility to pay. Tom outlines his plan, and presents the politics that await it at the UN Climate Change Conference.
3. Daphne Wysham - co-director of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network - reveals why international institutions such as the World Bank are cashing in on the growing climate change market, and how this is hindering sustainable energy options.

Pick of the side event webcasts:

1. Al Gore urges progress without the US untill after Bush. Video.
   
2. UN Regional perspectives on climate change: Video + Notes
3. WHO Health and Climate Change: Video + Notes
4. UNEP Adapting to Climate Change and Political Commitment: Video + Notes
5. UNDP Climate Change and Human Development: Video + Notes.
   

Related: All Bali coverage on this blog can be found here.

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Virginia Tech New Metropolis Lecture Series

I think i prefer listening to podcasts than reading, i linked to the City of Sydney's City Talk Podcasts the other day...particularly a talk by Jan Ghel.

I have just found another great series of podcasts and i`m wondering how many more are out there.

Lectures focus on cutting-edge topics and ideas about metropolitan development in the United States and abroad. Once a month, Virginia Tech invites speakers of broad regional, national and international reputation in scholarship, research, and policy.

My favorite from this series would have to be the following:

August 29, 2007
The Dollars and Sense of Sustainable Development - Ed McMahon, Senior Resident Fellow at the Urban Land Institute.

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Audio of the week: Jan Ghel on Creating Pedestrian Cities