Daily Score Blog

Welcome news:  two British bishops are calling for a "carbon fast" to trim climate-warming emissions during the Lenten season. The idea of the "fast" is to take one energy-saving step every day during the 40 days of Lent:  insulate the hot water tank, for example, or check for leaks in windows and doors.  By Easter, you'll have trimmed your emissions, and also accumulated lots of good karma.

This is yet another example of religious leaders of all stripes stepping into the climate fray.  Why is this a religious issue?  Says of the bishops:

"It is the poor who are already suffering the effects of climate change."

That's absolutely correct, and ratchets up the moral imperative of halting climate change. The fight against global warming isn't just about protecting animals or nature in the abstract.  It's about helping people, particularly some of the poorest people in the world, in very specific and concrete ways.  Which is just the sort of thing we expect our religious leaders to support. 

(Thanks to the ever-glamorous Stacey Panek for the tip.)

Via Kevin Drum, via Kate Sheppard, the Wall Street Journal has reported on an interesting new development:

Three of Wall Street's biggest investment banks are set to announce today that they are imposing new environmental standards that will make it harder for companies to get financing to build coal-fired power plants in the U.S.

Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley say they have concluded that the U.S. government will cap greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants sometime in the next few years. The banks will require utilities seeking financing for plants before then to prove the plants will be economically viable even under potentially stringent federal caps on carbon dioxide, the main man-made greenhouse gas.

There's much more in the article. But it goes to show how effective a cap and trade system can be -- even before it actually exists! The point of a predictable carbon cap is that it sends a clear signal through the economy, and then the economy responds in all sorts of dynamic and positive ways. Good stuff.

Sightline researchers are featured in a special KUOW series this week on climate, called “Cracking the Climate Code.” This series investigates the ways in which climate change may affect our region, and explores policy decisions and individual actions that can help mitigate the effects.

“Cracking the Climate Code” runs all week on the Morning Edition, featuring Alan talking about living “Car-less” today--he's also in the "Cashing in on Climate Change" segment, which reports on regional efforts to create green-collar jobs. Clark can be heard during the “Rethinking Recycling” segment on the 8th. You can listen online or download a podcast after it airs.

Here's one for your required reading stack: The Benefits of Bicycling (pdf), a new report from Cascade Bicycle Club. It's an enjoyable eleven pages on the ways that bicycling helps address climate change, even while it saves money and boosts our health. 

The paper doesn't contain new primary research, but it's a nicely readable summary of the best thinking in favor of two-wheeled transport. (Plus, it's chock full of charts and data that prove the point.) From the introduction:

We need to embrace new technology but also look past it to plan for a reduction in the number of miles we drive... A successful response to global warming will involve the cultivation of compact neighborhoods and an empowerment of residents to choose transportation modes beyond the private automobile.

Fortunately, there is a readily-available transportation mode that is well suited to the compact neighborhoods of the future. It is affordable and takes up little space. It addresses all three “legs” of the [transportation emissions] “stool,” emitting no pollution whatsoever and cutting driving rates. Parking is a breeze.

It is the bicycle.

Take a look. Lead author is Patrick McGrath.