Planet better off if Copenhagen fails?

According to Jim Hansen, who heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the world would be better off if the climate talks in Copenhagen fail.

Hansen is fundamentally opposed to carbon trading. He stated that, "the whole approach is so fundamentally wrong that it is better to reassess the situation." Hansen went on to explain, "This is analogous to the issue of slavery faced by Abraham Lincoln or the issue of Nazism faced by Winston Churchill," he said. "On those kind of issues you cannot compromise. You can't say let's reduce slavery, let's find a compromise and reduce it 50 percent or reduce it 40 percent."

What do you think? Is a globally binding agreement that focuses on a cap-and-trade system a half measure? Or, is it our best chance to begin the process of actually reducing emissions?

Click here to read the full Reuters article.

America's Greenest Campus Competition

Ever wonder what your personal carbon footprint is? Well, Climate Culture has a nifty little online calculator to help you estimate it in about 5 to 10 minutes. It's not perfect science but it'll make you think about a few things and offer suggestions on how you can reduce your footprint.

Oh, did I mention that this is also part of a national competition with cash prizes! While we will not be able to compete with the huge universities signing up 100s or even 1,000s of people we can win the greatest per capita reduction. The Leaderboard will keep track of where we are relative to other schools.

Everyone knows that Colgate has great competitive spirit. Well, I guess it's time to prove it again! It's the right cause to get involved with.

So, here is what you can do: 1) sign up; 2) calculate your carbon footprint; 3) commit to activities that will reduce your footprint; and 4) invite all your colleagues and classmates to sign up. All faculty, staff, and students with a colgate.edu e-mail are eligible (alumni should be soon). It's that simple.

I'm thinking faculty and staff are more committed than Colgate students and it is time you humbled them. :-)

By the time students return in late August, we can have many, many dozens of Colgate employees signed up. Then, if students want to win, they'll have to play catch-up - big time!

Click here to get started.

See your impact on global warming in your customized world, find the best ways to reduce your impact, deck out your avatar, and play a new game, Scrubble, against your friends. Saving the planet has never been so easy, fun and rewarding!

House Passes Historic Climate Bill

It was close, but on June 25 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a landmark bill that promises to fundamentally change the way we produce and consume energy. In a nutshell, the American Clean Energy and Security Act would put a price on greenhouse gas emissions by forcing major emitters to purchase permits through a national cap-and-trade system. Over time, the cap would be ratcheted down making it prohibitively expensive for major emitters to continue operating well above the cap. For these reasons, the cap-and-trade system is expected to catalyze a shift from carbon intensive fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy supplies. More specifically, the bill mandates that America must cut 2005 level emissions by 17 percent by 2020 and by 83 percent by 2050.

Because energy touches every aspect of our lives, everything could change. While the visionaries offer many different scenarios, it is safe to say that lighting, the design of our homes, cars, agriculture, the way urban centers are designed, building materials, and the way material goods are manufactured are just a few of the things that could be radically different.

As our energy economy undertakes this mammoth transition, each of us will be impacted. According to a recent congressional study, the bill would result in an estimated $175 annual increase for every American household. This is a modest price to pay since most experts agree that the cost of doing nothing will exact a much greater economic, geopolitical, and environmental toll now and every year into the future.

Fortunately, Colgate is better off than most as we prepare for the new energy economy. Over 70 percent of our heating needs are met through locally produced renewable wood-chips and 84 percent of our electricity comes from non-carbon emitting and relatively cheap hydroelectricity. Unfortunately, Colgate still burns over 400,000 gallons fuel oil annually to meet the remaining 30 percent of our heating needs. This results in the release of over 5,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We also rely heavily on ground and air travel to meet our business and educational missions. The cost of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel are all expected to increase under a new cap-and-trade system. Therefore, it is in our best interest to consider mitigation strategies that reduce our consumption of these fuels.

Next up the bill must make it through the Senate where it is sure to be altered and possibly even killed. However, no matter what happens in the short-term one reality seems increasingly likely: soon enough greenhouse gas emissions will be regulated at the federal level. It would be wise for Colgate to aggressively pursue a carbon neutral energy future with this scenario in mind.