H.R. 2847 : 2010 Jobs for Main Street Bill

US House of  Representatives http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/2010_Jobs_For_Main_Street_Bill_Text.pdf [E & E Daily -- from 2 stories]  The jobs package the House passed yesterday would give $36 billion to the nation’s roads and rails — but that wasn’t its only gift to the transportation community. The legislation (H.R. 2847) would also extend the current highway and transit law through [...]

Population Dynamics and Climate Change

United Nations Development Fund for Women, International Institute for Environment and Development / edited by José Miguel Guzmán, George Martine, Gordon McGranahan, Daniel Schensul and Cecilia Tacoli http://tinyurl.com/ybspvnr [Announcement] This report broadens and deepens understanding of a wide range of population-climate change linkages. Incorporating population dynamics into research, policymaking and advocacy around climate change is [...]

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia : Speech at COP-15

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFAN7Uvbt14 [NY Times Dot Earth] In a speech clearly aimed at finding a middle ground between the stances of rich and poor countries,  President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia said that all countries would benefit from a trustworthy system of measuring and verifying progress on emissions – a need [...]

The Copenhagen Governance Gap

Brookings Institution / by Nathan Hultman http://tinyurl.com/ycxwrmk It appears that the U.N. Secretariat was simply unprepared for the massive influx of delegates attending the 15th annual climate change conference in Copenhagen. Nathan Hultman discusses the viability of the current model of climate governance that involves widespread and open-access participation by civil society and whether or [...]

Remarks by Secretary Hillary Clinton at COP-15

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton http://www.scribd.com/doc/24227229/Sec-Clinton-Cop (to download you may need to register for free at Scribd.com) [WSJ Environmental Capital] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today in Copenhagen that the U.S. would help raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help finance the fight against climate change in poor countries, the [...]

Climate Change Glossary

BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8314353.stm [Website]  How does adaptation differ from mitigation? And what is REDD? The jargon of climate change can be hard to grasp. Use this glossary to decode it. (H/T: WSJ Environmental Capital which has its own, shorter glossary)

Senator John Kerry’s Speech at COP-15

US Senate, Sen. John Kerry http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=320808 [WSJ Environmental Capital] In a speech today in the Danish capital, Sen. Kerry said a successful summit could ease the passage of energy and climate legislation next year in the U.S. Conversely, failure in Copenhagen could kill it. Specifically, he said, any deal in Copenhagen has to assuage fears [...]

Cleantech Revolution: Building Smart Infrastructures

PricewaterhouseCoopers http://www.pwc.com/us/en/technology/publications/cleantech-infrastructures.jhtml?wt.mc_id=MRK090602SM1 [Abstract] Recent trends of government and private investment into the build-out of smart infrastructures will cause companies across all industries to determine how they may benefit by assessing what role they might play—either directly or peripherally, and in the near and long-term—in the growth of smart infrastructure markets. (Docuticker)

S. 1733 : Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act

Congressional Budget Office http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/108xx/doc10864/s1733.pdf [Summary]  S. 1733 would make a number of changes in energy and environmental policies largely aimed at reducing emissions of gases that contribute to global warming. The bill would limit or cap the quantity of certain greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted from facilities that generate electricity and from other industrial activities beginning [...]

Risk of What? Using ERM to Consider National Interests

Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard Univ. / presentation by Debra K. Decker at the Society for Risk Analysis Conference, Baltimore, MD, December 9, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/ycrpkm7 [Website] The field of risk management has expanded from some straight forward applications of risk analysis in limited decision frameworks (understanding hazards and helping to analyze choices around specific problems) [...]