The best science available suggests that without taking action to fundamentally change how we produce and use energy, we could see temperatures rise 9 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit over much of the United States by 2090. These estimates have sometimes been called high-end predictions, but the corresponding low-end forecasts assume we will rally as a country to shift course. That hasn’t happened, so the worst case must become our best guess….

Today’s conservatives would do well to start thinking more like military planners, reexamining the risks inherent in their strategy. If, instead, newly elected Republicans do nothing, they will doom us all to bigger government interventions and a large dose of suffering – a reckless choice that’s anything but conservative.

That’s from a terrific op-ed in today’s WashPost from CAP’s Bracken Hendricks.

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The incoming tea-party governors of Wisconsin and Ohio don’t just deny climate science.   They are apparently unaware that everyone from the German military to the once staid International Energy Agency is warning of a looming peak oil crisis (see World’s top energy economist warns: “We have to leave oil before oil leaves us”).

So the Tea Party crowd is declaring unilateral disarmament in our effort to stop the nearly $1 billion day outflow of money from Americans to foreign oil producers, as Brad Johnson reports:
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Many ceiling fans come with a switch that changes the blades’ direction. In a counterclockwise direction the blades will produce cool breezes. When going clockwise, however, they help circulate warm air.

It’s getting cold outside and for many people that translates into high electric bills from turning up the heat. But it’s possible to be comfortable and economical at the same time.

This CAP cross-post offers seven ways you can stay warm at home and still save money during the upcoming winter season.

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This memo by CAP’s Richard W. Caperton is a companion to a new Global Climate Network (GCN) report, Investing in Clean Energy.  Aimed at policymakers, financiers and experts, it includes detailed information on five financial instruments proposed by the GCN in our main report.  Collectively, the instruments have the potential to leverage significant amounts of private sector capital for low-carbon and clean energy projects in developing countries.

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