[This version edited 11-15-09]

The climate change bill currently being debated by California Senator Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee partially pre-empts California's ability to set a tighter cap on greenhouse gas emissions. Considering the clout of the Golden State on climate in D.C., are Senator Boxer, Speaker...

Congratulations to Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics (seriously, what century is it?). This year's Prize is also a recognition that 21st century economics will be about sharing the Commons.

Ostrom's 1990 book Governing the Commons reframed the infamous "Tragedy of...

Calling all graphic designers, artists, Banksy, anyone! We need to Photoshop Saddam Hussein's mustache onto climate change. It's the only thing that will motivate people to action on climate change. Most people think climate change is an interesting topic for a seminar or lecture, not an ongoing...

A recent article on the New York Times website via ClimateWire implied that North Dakota may hold the key to Senate passage of a U.S. climate bill version of HR.2454 (also called ACES).

I found this interesting because my research at UCLA showed that North Dakota could...

The Democrats used a nice talking point during the House's Waxman-Markey climate bill debate. They said that the bill will only cost a "postage stamp per day." The basis for the talking point was a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report estimating an annual cost of "$175 per household in...

The allocation section of the Waxman Markey bill, also called the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), aims to distribute permits representing our national greenhouse gas emissions for decades into the future.

That section of the 900+ pages of climate legislation, to be debated on the House floor...

Just in time for the summer blockbusters, a group of robots (lobbyists) run by evil machines (coal-fired powerplants) have infiltrated the highest levels of government (Congress' Energy and Commerce Committee). Only (the ideas in a recent letter from) California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can stop them.

On April 2nd, when...

Climate advocates sometimes get impatient with climate scientists for always hedging their statements. Just tell us, will the earth end by 2050 or not? But they need those hedges because there are so many variables and feedback loops. Even so, there are things they can say, and they have been...

Two climate change bills were introduced last week. The first is Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey's (D-MA) "discussion draft" of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, tipping the scales at over 600 pages, and causing a buzz in Washington. The other, authored by Congressman Chris Van...

We can expect a new climate change proposal every couple of days over the next few weeks and months following President Obama's recent statement asking Congress to send him legislation that "places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America." How should...

After an historic Martin Luther King Day Weekend and the inauguration of our first African-American President, civil rights are on people's mind. We've come a long way, but a new civil rights issue is arising in the 21st century: equal carbon emissions rights.

Climate change is usually seen as an...

In Sacramento, the California Air Resources Board just passed its AB32 Scoping Plan, a blueprint for reducing greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020. They deserve congratulations for taking the lead on this important issue, and moving ahead while our Federal Government was stuck in suspended animation...

With a new administration and the possibility of federal climate legislation in 2009, the spotlight of public interest is suddenly shining into the esoteric world of climate change economics. Most recently, the New York Times devoted an editorial to the matter on December 26th. We find the practitioners of...