Rhein on Energy and Climate

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From November 11 to 22, Warsaw will host the 19th UN Climate Conference. It will follow the usual bureaucratic agenda that allows for little time to deal with the essentials. This time, moreover, it will spend more time on “climate adaptation”, a sign that the organisers have increasing doubts about Man’s ability to mitigate climate… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Policy makers should stop talking about “climate policy”. It is energy policy that matters to preserve the global climate. It should secure our energy supply without causing havoc to environment. It is still too much focused on providing low-priced energy. Climate scientists tell us convincingly that Humanity must stop emitting greenhouse gases long before the… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Angel Gurria, the secretary general of the OECD, has most recently reminded the world that carbon emissions were increasing at a pace that might lead to a rise of global temperatures of four centigrade by the end of the century, twice the maximum temperature still considered acceptable by the international community. That is why he… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

With a great majority the Ecuadorian parliament has approved to start the exploration and production of oil in its Yasuni natural Park, which contains among the earth’s richest varieties of plant and animal species. This is the reaction to the failure of an interesting deal that Rafael Correa, the Ecuadorian president, had proposed to the… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

Coal-fired power plants are the worst emitters of greenhouse gases. This goes for US, China, India, Australia, Poland and many other countries. It is therefore urgent to curb their emissions. This can be done by: fixing strict C02 emission standards; inviting banks to make loans for power plants subject to strict emission standards. The USA… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The USA is getting serious with tackling climate change. Just in time for the next International Climate Conference in November in Warsaw, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed strict emission standards for new power. To meet these standards, power plants will have to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by about 40% to roughly 500g… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein

The latest Eurobarometer survey published 7 September tells us once again what EU citizens think about and expect from the EU. Though the positive ratings have kept falling during the last decades, 53% of citizens still consider that, on balance, their country has benefited more from membership than not being EU member. With the exception… » read more

Posted by Eberhard Rhein