While he drinks your beer in your house your know-it-all brother-in-law spouts out “There’s no consensus about climate change.  And anyway everybody knows that volcanoes belch out more CO2 than humans.”  You could respond with a sharp wack to his temple with the remote control or you could whip out your iPhone and tap the app for Skeptical Science. 

Also available on-line and via Android, Skeptical Science lists 119 one-line responses to combat climate “skeptics” and “disinformers”.  Each response links to the supporting scientific references.  The counter to “…no consensus about climate change”, is “97% of climate experts agree humans are causing global warming.”   To add credibility to your rebuttal, a click on the answer links to a basic 500 word explanation.  If you need to pull out the big guns you can click on the intermediate level of response for a more detailed explanation with charts, peer-reviewed research etc. 

 Skeptical Science is the labor-of-love of Australian John Cook.  He notes that “Scientific skepticism is healthy.”  In fact skepticism is at the core of the modern scientific method.  The ideas of scientists are tested and retested.  Evidence is challenged and scrutinized in the crucible of honest scientific examination.  Critical to the process is peer-reviewed research, the purpose of which is to advance science in the direction of consensus understanding. 

All of scientists who hold a common understanding about the impact of human activity upon climate embrace the integrity of the scientific process described above.  Outside of this scientific process are those self-proclaimed experts who present non-reviewed opinions as facts.

John Cook deserves our appreciation for addressing a complicated subject in a clear and efficient manner.  His website draws an active global participation every day.

The focus of the Climate Club dinner held in April was a discussion with scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) about the challenges they face dealing with aggressive attacks on their work on climate change.  The organizer of the event, John Lormon, noted that “The science community is generally not organized or culturally equipped to respond to politically motivated attacks on their findings.  If these attacks are successful in challenging the credibility of the science, they can be used to establish claims that can negatively impact California’s economy and jobs”. 

Those in attendance were of diverse backgrounds, but by the end of the evening I sensed a common denominator of extreme frustrated concern.   What we learned from SIO Professors Richard Somerville, Ray Weiss, Ralph Keeling and Andrew Dickson was made doubly disturbing by their personal testimony.  It is one thing to discuss climate change denial in the abstract.  It is another to hear the stories of deceit and distortion directed at the life’s work of serious scientists whose only motivation is to “do science” honestly and objectively.  This is not a story of competing theories, but rather one in which established science is ignored or misrepresented.  The complexity and scope of climate change denial is of enormous magnitude.   As the evening ended I was saddened with the sense that none of us saw a clear path of response.   The following month Naomi Oreskes and Eric M. Conway published a book which beams light on the path.

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming will, I guarantee, make you angry.  Oreskes and Conway pinpoint the scientists-for-hire, think tanks and foundations which thread from one denial campaign to another beginning with the tobacco industry’s multiple decade stall on the linkage between smoking and cancer.  The stage is filled with many of the same players who challenged the science behind acid rain, ozone depletion and now global warming.  What is amazing is that denial-for-hire has become a robust industry.  Huge funding from the tobacco industry, oil and others hides behind the artifice of educational foundations and even attorney-client privilege.  Some big-name national commentators have set up “foundations” so that they can receive funding from special interest groups and maintain deniability that they are not journalists for hire. 

Go to Amazon.  Buy the book.  If you already own it, buy copies to give to your smart friends.  Thought leaders everywhere need to know this story.  You can make a difference.

Naomi Oreskes is a professor of history and science studies at the University of California, San Diego.  There have been many reviews written about this important book.  Here’s one by Jesse Kornbluth.

On Thursday, 255 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, including 11 Nobel laureates, made public an open letter striking out at the orchestrated effort by a small network of climate deniers that has deliberately sought to confuse the public’s understanding of the dangers of climate change.  Signers include eight scientists from University of California at San Diego.  The statement is direct and elegant.  Click here for the full text.

Recently I had the honor to be included in a group brought together to discuss the communication challenges discussed in the letter.  In attendance that evening were four scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who have spent decades dealing first hand with the study of climate.  It was a wide ranging discussion.  One concept that I took away was that the science we use to make decisions is the best science we have at hand.  Like climate science, medical science is imperfect and essential.  If my surgeon tells me that 95% of medical specialists are 95% confident of the efficacy of a recommended procedure, I will use that information to make my decision.  Even if my choice were to side with the minority viewpoint, I would make a decision.  What I would not do is revert to the no-decision mode of “the jury is still out” and “there is still some debate”. 

Our scientists need and deserve our active support.  The April 12th issue of The New Yorker noted, “No one has ever offered a plausible account of why thousands of scientists, at hundreds of universities in dozens of countries would bother to engineer a climate hoax”.  “The message from scientists at this point couldn’t be clearer: the world’s emissions trajectory is extremely dangerous.  Goofball weathermen, Climategate, conspiracy theories—these are all a distraction from what’s really happening”.  Indeed.

To meet renewable goals, California utilities can buy power from Arizona households. It’s a new ball game.

By GUEST AUTHOR Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

To meet their renewable standards, California utilities are now able to look outside the state. What happens next should be interesting.

California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) mandates minimum renewable energy thresholds in a utility company’s electricity mix. In California, that minimum is 20% by the end of 2010. Utilities can obtain a three-year extension, and most will ask for that, but 2010 is still the official deadline.

Why an RPS?

According to the Public Utilities Code, Section 399.11, an increase in renewable resources “may promote stable electricity prices, protect public health, improve environmental quality, stimulate sustainable economic development, create new employment opportunities, and reduce reliance on imported fuels.”

However, these lofty goals overlooked one important element: execution.  Drafting a law mandating a 20% renewable mix doesn’t (more…)

Critical to the success of any regional technology cluster is the presence of an engaged legal community.  The rapidly expanding roster of clean technology companies in San Diego has the benefit of a strong base of intellectual property legal talent which has served our life science and high tech hubs for more than a generation.  Like every other aspect of local technology advancement, our institutions of higher education have provided intellectual stimulus.  Recently the University of San Diego School of Law began publication of the San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law.  This is the first academic law journal in the United States dedicated to addressing the challenges surrounding both climate-change and energy law issues.  Volume 1 includes eleven articles in 344 pages.  Click here for the table of contents. 

 The University of San Diego’s Second Annual Climate & Energy Law Symposium will be held on April 9, 2010.  The program will explore various regulatory approaches being proposed and adopted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Click here for the agenda and more information.  The symposium is co-sponsored by the Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) and the San Diego Journal of Climate and Energy Law.

By GUEST AUTHOR Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

While President Obama drew 48 million viewers for his State of the Union address, another noteworthy – albeit quieter – presentation was being made across town at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  The SEC, not particularly known for its marketing prowess, used the same day that Obama took the podium to announce that the SEC commissioners had voted to approve the release of interpretive guidance on financial disclosures related to climate change.  

In what might be characterized as the pin drop heard around the world, the SEC highlighted four areas where climate related disclosures may be required:

• Impact of Legislation and Regulation
• Impact of International Accords
• Indirect Consequences of Regulation or Business Trends
• Physical Impacts of Climate Change 

Science and Environment Commission?

 SEC Chair Mary Shapiro was quick to point out that the interpretive guidance is not an official position on climate change.  “We are not opining on whether the world’s climate is changing, (more…)

By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

It’s a balmy 67 degrees in San Diego and I’m back home at my local coffee shop, sipping Chai Tea Latte.  A short 24 hours ago, I was in the snow and bitter cold of Copenhagen, Denmark, attending the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP15) climate summit.

For two brief weeks, people from around the world had been gathered to discuss how carbon emissions are affecting our environment.  Despite a failure to sign a major agreement, the victory of the conference has been its ability to focus world attention on climate change issues.  COP-15 has captured the public’s interest, raised awareness and energized ordinary citizens into action.

Acknowledging the gravity of climate change is a difficult task to consider as I sip a tasty beverage in the comfort of my shorts and t-shirt.  Perhaps the single largest challenge for reducing carbon emissions is to convey a sense of urgency to those who are the least affected.  Has our (more…)

Not only has Lee Barken provided us with a daily report from the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP15) climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, he also provided those of us suffering the heat in San Diego with a video interview and a photo montage of events in Copenhagen including the Bright Green Conference. 

Click here for video interview:

Click here for photos:

By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

As we begin the final day of the Conference of Parties (Cop15) climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, the grueling hours and stressful conditions are surely taking their toll on official delegates. It is, however, extremely impressive to see how tactful and diplomatic the country representatives are, even when speaking with observers and civil society participants.

After one particularly late night at the Bella Center, home of Cop15, I waited at the Metro station at 1:30 a.m. in the snow and freezing temperatures and happened to engage in conversation with a negotiator from Bolivia.

The position of Bolivia and others in the region is that the atmosphere is polluted with emissions lingering from the dawn of the industrial era. In other words, developed countries spewed all these (more…)

By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

With the gathering of more than 130 world leaders in Copenhagen this week, the issue of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is taking center stage.  GHG has become the burden that no one country can unilaterally cure, but every person on the planet has a vested interest in addressing.

Cap and trade, along with other policy measures, have stirred a great deal of controversy–as they should.  Decisions to significantly alter the fabric of commerce and daily life should not be taken lightly.  Rigorous debate is essential and should be welcomed.

However, even the most ardent climate skeptic acknowledges that finite resources such as oil and other fossil fuels won’t last forever.  As such, the debate seems to be evolving into a question of when and not if.  In other words, (more…)

The COP15 corridor dance: A yellow badge-wearer chats up a pink badge-wearer.

By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

Wish you were here? Allow me to draw a picture.

We’re now well into week two of the COP-15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen and the diplomats, activists and media representatives are fully engulfed in a whirlwind of activity.  Beyond the maze of the Bella Center’s million square feet, 60 meeting rooms and winding pathways lies another maze comprised of diplomatic maneuvering, backroom gamesmanship and good old-fashioned guerrilla marketing.  Knowing where to go and what to do (more…)

By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

A royal panel (left to right): Royal Prince Haakon of Norway, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark

Up the road from the COP15 Climate Conference and just outside of downtown Copenhagen, 170 exhibitors gathered this weekend for the 2-day Bright Green conference, to demonstrate that climate change is both a dangerous peril and a pathway to profits. Bright Green, a showcase organized by the Confederation of Danish Industry, aims to show that the emission reductions currently being negotiated at COP15 will require a myriad of new industry solutions.

Judging by the turnout, it would appear that industry is more then ready to step up to the challenge and that the 10,000 attendees were not deterred by silent protest messages, such as “our climate is not your business” (more…)

How a new forestry protocol is bridging the divide between business and environmentalism.

 By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

Who says money doesn’t grow on trees? At the third-annual Forest Day event, held during the Cop15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen, attendees were a buzz about going green and making green, all with a new forestry protocol called REDD.

Short for “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation,” REDD aims to make a tree worth more standing up then cut down. It accomplishes this by monetizing the carbon sequestration benefits of trees in the form of carbon credits. Or, to put it another way: REDD is a mechanism to grow (more…)