It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green

World leaders who signed on to the Paris Climate accord in 2015 will gather in Glasgow for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, the formal session beginning on November 1. Britain, in partnership with Italy, will play host. The nations represented committed themselves to ratcheting up of their original commitments every five years, but were […]

Biden Loves Electric Vehicles But Not Elon Musk

​In an exercise of what can only be described as ideological blindness – or vindictiveness – President Biden launched his plan to increase the take-up of electric vehicles. He noted that America was the leader in “pioneering the technology” of electric vehicles. The array of vehicles, auto company CEOs, politicians and trade union leaders serving […]

How to Fight Climate Change and Put Pressure on China

Existing policies aimed at arresting the pace of global warming aren’t working. China, the world’s largest emitter, has reiterated its refusal to reduce carbon emissions or curtail financing of new coal-fired generating stations at home and abroad. Japan and Australia have told the International Energy Agency that they have no intention of taking the steps […]

Xi Blows Hot, While Biden Tries to Cool It

Politicians like to say, “We are all in this together.” Of course, in most cases that is not true. They issue orders locking people in their homes and then proceed to party, travel, visit girlfriends and mothers. Here they issue orders making it difficult for middle class families to educate their kids in public schools, […]

It Isn’t Easy Being Green, But I Think I Want To Be

The virtual format President Biden used for last week’s climate summit, to which he invited some 40 countries, shielded him from any physical threat created by two attendees – “killer” Vladimir Putin, and “thug” Xi Jinping, his description of the Russian and Chinese presidents. But he did invite them to Zoom along with me, to […]

Biden Has The Weapon To Slow Climate Change A Border Tax

On Thursday, Earth Day, President Biden has an opportunity to make good use of the virtual summit on climate change to which he has invited 40 world leaders, including China’s president, Xi Jinping. He can demonstrate the seriousness with which he views the warming of the planet by announcing that he will impose a border […]

Will China Cool it in Glasgow?

The so-called Covid relief bill is passed and signed; the checks are out and the clock is ticking down to the spending explosion; cities are trying to figure out how to spend or squander their new cash; unions have been appeased by the bail-out of their pension plans; new entitlements have been put in place; […]

Weaponizing Access to U.S. Markets to Control China’s Contribution to Climate Change

Attempting to produce Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark would be foolish. Attempting to contain global warming without the cooperation of China would be equally foolish. Unless President Biden can find some way to enlist China in the effort to reduce the rise in the planet’s temperature, it is doomed to failure. Fortunately, there is a way: […]

Republicans need an economic climate plan ahead of 2022

There are times when a small event reveals a large truth. The resignation of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission leaves the SEC with four members, two from each party. In ordinary times, one would expect pundits to offer their views on the effect of this and of possible candidates for the vacancy […]

Elections Matter: Climate Change Moves From “Hoax” To Center Stage

Climate change, says President-elect Joe Biden, is “the number one issue facing humanity. And it’s the number one issue for me. Unchecked it’s going to actually bake this planet.” In response to their boss’ concern, the team conducting the administration’s vetting of job candidates, even those considered for relatively lower-level positions, “routinely asks ‘is the […]