The Fukushima Nuclear Crisis and Risk Perceptions

The earthquake and ensuing tsunami that occurred in Japan last month was a horrific event. The ongoing atomic crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power station is also alarming, but I think a good bit of perspective on actual vs. perceived risk is in order before rushing energy decisions that could affect the fate of the planet. We are facing unprecedented, multiple challenges at once. The first challenge is finding ways in which to dramatically slow... Read More

Weekly gRound-Up: 2/21/2010

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.... Read More

Bill Gates at TED 2010: Innovating to Zero

I just watched Bill Gates’ talk at TED 2010 online: Innovating to Zero. It is an interesting talk, though I have some critiques which I will discuss below. Gates has devoted his energies since leaving Microsoft to his foundation which focuses mainly on health and development issues, such as developing a malaria vaccine, combating HIV/AIDS, and improving agriculture. During this year’s presentation, his main argument went as follows: 1.... Read More

Recap of Obama’s State of the Union Address: Environment and Energy Roundup

President Obama discussing clean energy during the state of the union. Source: whitehouse.gov Going into his first State of the Union address to Congress, I was curious to see if Obama would scale back initiatives that he has placed at the center of his agenda in the face of the US’ fiscal problems. I wanted to highlight and provide commentary of his points relevant to Project Groundswell – namely energy, climate change, and transportation. Obama’s... Read More

10 New Nukes Announced in the UK

Earlier this week, the UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change announced plans to build 10 new nuclear power stations in an effort to both meet future electricity demands, and help meet its commitments regarding climate change mitigation (an ambitious 30% reduction by 2030). Currently the UK gets about 20% of its electricity from nuclear energy, and its existing aging fleet of power stations is set to be retired by 2030. New reactors... Read More