By: Chandu Visweswariah This past week I received numerous holiday greetings expressing a sentiment that the sender was glad to put 2020 in the rearview mirror. The assumption is that the vaccine is here, the election is over, and better days are ahead. Thanks to rigorous scientific advances and the magic of messenger Ribonucleic Acid (mRNA), we believe we will…
Let’s Make Sustainable Resolutions for 2021
By: Susan B. Buck Sustainable: 1. able to continue over a period of time. 2. causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time. (dictionary.cambridge.com) Resolution: 1. a firm decision to do or not to do something 2. the quality of being determined 3. the action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious…
Long Cold Nights of Reflection for Longer Brighter Days Ahead
By Patty L. Buchanan. Image Credit: Kym Mackinnon, Unsplash This year-end-period with the longest and coldest nights brings a precious time for reflection. The quietest holiday season you may ever know shares time with so many circumstances that conjure the need for change. This time of reflection must be given its due. Image Credit: Fabrice-Villard, Unsplash This year of so…
UN Progress Report on Emissions; COVID Effects and Opportunities
By: Patty L. Buchanan The United Nations Environmental Program published a report this week analyzing global progress on reducing emissions, entitled the Emissions Gap Report 2020 (the Report). It’s mostly distressing news, with a few bright spots. Specifically, the Report considers how we are doing in meeting our 2030 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction goals. It focuses on the gap between “where…
A Holiday Gift for our Planet – Reducing our waste
By: Shubir Kapoor The holiday season is upon us. Especially in this year of COVID-19, many of us are reflecting more deeply on those less fortunate and how we can help. While in this frame of mind, let’s also consider future generations who will be impacted by our actions today. Let’s leave them a legacy showing we cared. How we…
“Super Power” Can Get Us to 50% GHG by 2030
By: Chandu Visweswariah Clean Energy U Curve courtesy RethinkX Adam Dorr and Tony Seba of RethinkX, a think tank that studies technology disruptions, just published a report entitled “Rethinking Energy 2020 – 2030.” The report gives us a blueprint of how we can achieve 50% Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction by 2030 as required by an overwhelming consensus of scientific thought…
Headwinds of Climate Change Resistance Were Weakened This Week
By: Patty L. Buchanan President-Elect Joe Biden has been clear and consistent throughout his campaign and in his messaging since the polls closed on November 3: He intends to prioritize action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to rejoin the Paris Agreement. Regardless of various positions on many issues that were in play during this election (I do not…
Our House is on Fire and the School is Buying Another Gas Bus
By: Patty L. Buchanan [Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles about Electric Vehicles marking Croton100’s observation of National Drive Electric Week, September 26 to October 4, 2020.] Here are a few of this week’s news headlines: “The Effects of Climate Change, Including Wildfires, Threaten U.S. Financial Markets, a Federal Report Found,” “Wildfires and Extreme Weather…
The Moral Imperative to Live a Negative Carbon Lifestyle
By: Chandu Visweswariah Would you knowingly harm your child? Of course not! What about your grandchild? Same answer. What about your grandchild’s children and grandchildren? This concept is echoed in every major religious traditionand beautifully captured in an ancient and profound Haudenosaunee principle: “The Peacemaker taught us about the Seven Generations. He said, when you sit in council for the…
Understanding Our Carbon Budget for 1.5 Degrees C of Warming
By: Chandu Visweswariah Graphic by Prof. Rob Jackson of Stanford A very interesting paper entitled “An assessment of Earth’s climate sensitivity using multiple lines of evidence” was published in Reviews of Geophysics on July 22, 2020 and discussed in the New York Times. The paper’s lead author is Prof. S. Sherwood of the University of New South Wales in Australia,…
