The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: Politics of the Planet

People have been searching for a technical fix for global climate change for a long time.  One of the leading plans has been “cloud whitening” which would decrease the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth, thereby decreasing the greenhouse effect.  However, new evidence from Europe shows that this technique might actually warm the planet even more.  [BBC]

Are you more optimistic about the use of technology to solve the planet’s climate ills? Scientists at the University of Minnesota have unlocked a way to use carbon dioxide as a fuel for vehicles.  That could be useful. [Futurity]

Building are often the leading culprit in municipal government’s carbon footprint.  This is certainly the case for New York City.  Mayor Bloomberg has decided to implement a new kind of leasing arrangement which would incentivize  energy efficiency.  [NYC.gov][Explanation from Tapped]

One of the reasons I volunteered for the RP before he was recovering was because of his stance on mountaintop removal coal mining. If you don’t much about the issue of MTR, I would encourage you to educate yourself about it. The Rainforest Action Network releases yearly report cards to banks about their exposure to this form of mining. Their most recent report just came out. See how your bank scored.  [RAN]

One of the other WWGs which I do is The Politics of Hoops. I love basketball. I also love it when my WWGs overlap. Here is a picture from the 70s of Phil Jackson with his bicycle. This makes me want to cheer for the Lakers. [tumblr]