climate change
Beyond Climate Breakdown
Why have we been slow to address climate change? It comes down to story–how we understand the world through story, and how when the world is telling us things we don’t want to know we desperately look for stories that will help us through our mental discomfort. That’s the subject of Beyond Climate Breakdown: Envisioning New Stories of Radical Hope, my new book from MIT Press.
Parched
When COVID-19 threatened to scuttle the in-person Parched art exhibit, the planning team pivoted quickly. Filmmaker Nick Geib interviewed the artists and the scientists and crafted an hour-long film that tells the story.
Climate Change in The American Leader
A dramatic change in presidential leadership means it’s time to rethink how the United States deals with climate change. What’s to be expected of the new Biden administration?
A New Form of Beauty: Glen Canyon Beyond Climate Change
The quintessential landscape of climate change lies in on the Colorado Plateau: it’s Lake Powell, where no one can be sure what will be land, what water. Photographer Peter Goin and I collaborated on a beautiful book about a place where beauty itself is a question mark.
Working on Earth
The land has changed. But so have the ways we look at the land–whether we live there, or merely visit. An environmental history of the rangelands of east-central Arizona, based on an oral history with a long-time rancher. It’s a chapter in an anthology published by University of Nevada Press.
Terms of Engagement
We’ve tried denial, and now grudging acceptance. Neither has worked so well. Maybe Germany provides a better model for how to talk about–and effectively deal with–climate change. A column from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
WW II-Era Law Keeps Germany Hooked on ‘Brown Coal’ Despite Renewables Shift
Even as it continues through a huge build-out of renewable energy, Germany continues to rely on the world’s most polluting fuel for a big percentage of its electricity. A report for InsideClimate News.
Catching Fire: Restoring Arizona’s Overgrown Forests
The Southwest’s overgrown ponderosa pine forests need help. A broad-based restoration initiative in Arizona aims for long-term ecological integrity, and for good jobs in the woods. Read the story, and see Chris Crisman’s splendid photos, at Nature Conservancy Magazine.
Why Is Germany’s Greenest City Building a Coal-Fired Power Plant?
Germany’s Energiewende or “energy transition” is far from a smooth path. One of the speed bumps on the way is a giant new coal-fired power plant under construction in Hamburg. A site report for InsideClimate News.
Despite New Obstacles, Germans Still Aim for Future Without Nukes or Fossil Fuels
It’s a national project at least as ambitious as America’s effort to reach the moon, and fraught with obstacles. Yet Germany is serious about switching to renewable energies while switching off nuclear and fossil-fuel electricity. A progress report for InsideClimate News.
A Key Experiment to Probe the Future of Our Acidifying Oceans
In a Swedish fjord, European researchers are conducting an ambitious experiment aimed at better understanding how ocean acidification will affect marine life. A field report for Yale Environment 360.
The World’s Best Bad Idea
Almost everybody agrees that pumping vast quantities of carbon dioxide into the oceans is a terrible way to deal with climate change. But our current inaction on climate change means that future generations may well have to make some terrible choices. A cover story from Miller-McCune that was underwritten by a 2010 Abe Journalism Fellowship.
