Word: fossils
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...need to remake our energy economy and replace fossil fuels with renewables like wind and solar is often referred to as the new Apollo project, a challenge to our scientists - and to the federal checkbook - that will be even greater than the moon race. We're moving ahead on installing new clean energy - the U.S. was the fastest growing wind-power market in the world in 2008 - and Congress, with the support of President Barack Obama, is on the road to establishing caps on carbon dioxide...
...according to many energy experts - including Steven Chu, Obama's Nobel Prize-winning Energy Secretary - the science isn't there yet. Significant basic research and development needs to happen before renewables can truly displace fossil fuels. And unlike at the time of the first Apollo project, the U.S. seems far from ready to spend the money needed to create long-term solutions to global warming - which risks the country falling behind in this new scientific race toward a clean-energy economy. "If we are serious about delivering the real technological change needed to really reduce emissions, we need to scale...
...Whatever your thoughts on the causes of climate change, the irreducible fact is that enough people around the world are sold on the threat of global warming, as well the long term problems from the air pollution, dwindling supply and ever-increasing costs of fossil fuels, that trillions of dollars are going to be spent over the course of the next century on renewable energy technologies. No country, nor even any American state, can expect to stake a leading position in this emerging industry unless there is a strong base of domestic consumption underpinning the industry. One person who seems...
...debate over ACES, the Republicans and coal-state Democrats opposing or at least seeking to neuter the legislation repeatedly speak about the competitive disadvantage America will suffer if it takes the lead in fossil fuel regulation, particularly in relation to a still developing country but major rival such as China. Yet China, for all its unwillingness to commit to carbon caps, stands poised to seriously outpace us in the global renewable energy market. The Chinese are actively pursuing a beefed up version of what Republicans like to call an all-of-the-above energy policy. Yes, plenty of coal-fired...
...then there's the Amazon. Right now, the rain forest is a huge carbon sink, which compensates for the greenhouse gases we release by burning fossil fuels. But if the climate warms so much that the rain forest begins to die off - a distinct possibility - we'll lose that carbon sink, and then warming will again accelerate. Scientists, including the authors of the Science study, are still trying to nail down exactly where these tipping points might be - but it seems that the more we find out, the more the evidence points to an increasingly sensitive climate. And that...