August 5, 2017 The United States officially notified United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres  of the country’s intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as soon as it is eligible to do so.

June 4, 2017 On June 1, 2017, as expected, President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement based on his conclusion that it would “undermine our economy, hamstring our workers, weaken our sovereignty … and put us at a permanent disadvantage to the … Continue reading →

January 3, 2016 The Doomsday Clock Last year, on January 22, 2015 to be precise, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists advanced the Doomsday Clock to 3 minutes before midnight, a metaphor to indicate how close our species is to extinction. Among other things, the scientists are (correctly) concerned with … Continue reading →

January 1, 2016 Background COP21 is a pragmatic face-saving agreement for politicians, nothing more. Essentially, signatory nations have agreed only to commit individually and severally to maximum annual carbon emissions. Reporting the results is mandatory, but unlike global lending institutions that routinely force helpless quasi-bankrupt governments into painful austerity programs … Continue reading →

December 15, 2015 President Obama and Secretary Kerry have made the case that developing nations account for 65% of carbon emissions, and that consequently even if industrialized countries were to stop using fossil fuels instantly, now, that would not bring global warming under control. Statistically they are correct, but that’s … Continue reading →

December 12, 2015 The Paris conference is over, and member nations have unanimously adopted a resolution to keep global mean temperature within 1.5°C of that which existed before the industrial era and to help needy nations cope with the effects of global warming. Pundits are already criticizing it due to … Continue reading →

December 11, 2015 As at Copenhagen, the sticking point in Paris is money –who is going to pay how much so the entire world won’t look like Beijing during a red-alert smog storm. The real issue is not money per se but that the world’s powers are reluctant to simply … Continue reading →

An Impending Crisis A tsunami of methane –a greenhouse gas 27 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2)- of El Niño proportions may soon be released into the atmosphere, and no one can prevent that. If and when it happens, the concentration of greenhouse gases will exceed current projections by … Continue reading →

Remarks at the Atlantic Council John Kerry Secretary of State Washington, DC March 12, 2015 SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good morning, everybody. Fred, thank you very, very much for a very generous introduction. I’m delighted to be here with everybody. Distinguished ambassadors who are here this morning, thank you for taking … Continue reading →