Mara MacKinnon's Climate Chronicles

Two of the nation’s biggest power providers, Exelon and Progress Energy, announced plans this week to retire more than a dozen of their aging coal-fired power plants.

While the decisions were based on economics, they ultimately will have an impact on human health.

When global leaders gather in Copenhagen three weeks from now, the concerns of the world’s youth will be impossible to ignore.

Young adults and teens know that if their parents’ generation fails to stop climate change, they will be the ones left to contend with the ensuing nightmare. So, what they lack in deep pockets, the climate change generation is making up for in determination and the media savvy.

By galvanizing large numbers of people around the world to call for climate change action, young people are making a bigger impact on the global political scene than ever before.

“Traditionally, there were the media, NGOs, lobbyists and governments that shaped what came out of these [international negotiations]. Now there is a rising impact from global civil society that is being engaged by young people,” said Richard Graves, a youth delegate to the 2007 climate talks in Bali and now a coordinator for TckTckTck.org.

“Bringing technology to bear on organizing is something that young people have gotten sophisticated about and have brought to political organizing.”

Read More

Bookmark/Search this post with:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• Add new comment

Bio-engineering has given science a new toolbox for slowing climate change: By synthetically altering the DNA in bacteria, bio-engineers may be able to convert microscopic organisms into fuel producers.

If the science reaches its full promise, drivers a few years from now could be filling up with carbon-neutral gasoline, fresh off the bacterial production line.

This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way that we power our lives and to dramatically decrease carbon emissions, but it is still in the early stages of development. That could change with a boost from the U.S. Department of Energy, which has sought to spur growth in low-emissions energy technologies through the recently established Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The aim is to invest in high-risk, high-rewards innovations that stand to transform the global energy landscape.

"With ARPA-E, we are swinging from the heels and trying to hit home runs, not just base hits. The 37 projects we're funding span the spectrum—from renewable energy, to energy storage, to industrial and building efficiency, to petroleum-free vehicles and carbon capture," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said.

Even one break-through in any of these areas could be a major step toward solving climate change.