Of Carbon Budgets and Roulette Wheels

Of Carbon Budgets and Roulette Wheels

By: Chandu Visweswariah The recent United Nations IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 6th Assessment Report has set off a frenzy of “after-market analysis” in the environmental community to help the public make sense of the scientific jargon in the report. There is no ambiguity that we must reduce emissions to a level that can be absorbed by natural systems;…

IPCC 2021: Code Red for Humanity

IPCC 2021: Code Red for Humanity

By Chandu Visweswariah “There is no time for delay and no room for excuses, the report is a code red for humanity.”— UN Secretary General António Guterres “Now is the critical decade for keeping the 1.5-degree target within reach.”— Jane Lubchenco, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy The United Nations released the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)…

Progress Rolls Like a Brick

Progress Rolls Like a Brick

By: Chandu Visweswariah Congratulations to all residents of the Croton Harmon School District in New York! In the recent May 18 budget vote, you chose electric buses overwhelmingly over fossil fuel buses. The three electric bus propositions collectively received a 73.7% approval. For those who recall, we also had a Proposition 1 for two fossil fuel buses, and the three…

An Earth Day for the Ages

An Earth Day for the Ages

By: Chandu Visweswariah No. 46 outdid himself on Earth Day 51! The publication of Rachel Carlson’s book “Silent Spring” in 1962 led to the first Earth Day in 1970. Just last week, we celebrated Earth Day number 51. In our household, Earth Day has always had special significance because our first date with my wife was on Earth Day 1990….

Our Votes? Not in a Million Years!

Our Votes? Not in a Million Years!

By: Chandu Visweswariah [Editor’s note: Proposition numbers were updated in keeping with updated Bond Proposition numbering on 4/13/2021 and funding details were updated on 5/3/2021.] The Croton School District (Westchester County, New York) is placing the following transportation bond propositions on the May 18, 2021 ballot: Proposition 1: Authorization to borrow money for 2 diesel buses and one “impractical” charger…

I Beg to Disagree, Mr. Gates

By: Chandu Visweswariah Bill Gates’ book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” was published two weeks ago (Knopf, 2021). An easy read, an informative read, a well-written read, but having been immersed in climate-related literature for over a decade, my overwhelming response was, “Yawn, nothing really new here.” Nonetheless, pulling all the elements of climate stabilization into a single book…

Quantifying the GHG Benefit of Composting

By: Chandu Visweswariah CURE100 offers a Carbon Tracker software application that allows a household to determine its annual Greenhouse Gas (GHG) impact measured in metric tons of CO2e per year (learn about the Carbon Tracker in a previous blog post in this series and try the Carbon Tracker for yourself here). The Carbon Tracker allows a household to determine its…

A Tale of Two (Local) Cities

By: Chandu Visweswariah “A Tale of Two Cities” is an 1859 historical novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. This blog is about the City of Ithaca, NY and the Town of Bedford, NY before and during the climate revolution. It has been a good week from a climate perspective as United…

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