World’s Largest Corporations Caused $2.2 Trillion in Environmental Damages, UN Report Finds
A new UN report shows that if the environmental degradation caused by the world’s 3,000 largest companies was accounted for in their balance sheets, it could cut those companies’ profits by nearly a third. The amount was estimated to be about $2.2 trillion – more than half of which was a price on carbon released into the atmosphere. Some would argue that it is paradoxical to put a price on the environment, as it risks treating the environment as a commodity, rather than an essential component which our civilization depends.

How Green are the Vancouver Winter Olympics?
This article in Popular Science discusses some of the efforts of the Vancouver Olympic Games, such as using recycled metal for the medals, state of the art green building techniques, and lumber from trees destroyed by the the pine beetle epidemic.

Fact Checking the IPCC Controversy Hoopla
As always, the scientists at RealClimate have an excellent post separating the real, the overblown, and the fallacies in the ongoing media frenzy surrounding the IPCC. The gist: yes there are few errors, but these do not undermine the general conclusion of the report. Ongoing observations and studies show that if anything, predictions on impacts caused by accelerating warming by the IPCC AR4 were too conservative, and that the planet is trending along the upper trajectories of the emissions scenarios.

Obama’s Support for Expansion of Nuclear Power and Green Politics
President Obama has made clear that he feels that nuclear energy expansion is key to meeting future energy demands and curbing global warming. Will his support of nuclear power win him republican support of a climate bill? Time Magazine has the analysis.

Wyoming Governor Proposes Tax on Wind Energy Producers
A debate is brewing in Wyoming about taxing the wind energy industry. Governor Dave Freudenthal has proposed an excise tax of $1 per megawatt-hour of energy generated to compensate taxpayers with the environmental and socioeconomic costs of wind energy. Wind energy proponents say that the proposed tax would stifle wind power development and make it less competitive for developers as compared with other states.