DF: What do you think of the Kyoto Protocol?
TF: Kyoto is the only international treaty on climate change that we have, and thankfully China and India are signatories. They will hopefully take on part of the burden of reducing emissions in its second phase, which begins in 2012. But for this to happen, Australia and the US will need to stop being free riders and ratify.
DF: How would you assess the development of clean-energy alternatives?
TF: Solar, wind, and other less-emissions-intense technologies are already well developed. What’s needed now are strategies to get them to market. While the CO2 polluters do not pay, their energy will be cheaper, and they will stymie uptake of clean energy. The best mechanism is a broad-based, revenue-neutral carbon tax — i.e., tax the polluters and give everyone else an income-tax break to the equivalent amount. Of course, it has moved more slowly than it should. We can speed it up by making the polluter pay.
DF: Do you consider geothermal energy to be part of the solution?
TF: Geothermal energy has enormous potential. It was Nikolai Tesla who said that there’s a lot of heat under our feet, and if we could tap it, we would have a limitless source of energy.
DF: How do you recommend that people go about reducing their carbon footprint?
TF: Sell the SUV and buy a smaller car. Buy a solar hot-water system and energy-efficient goods. There are hundreds of ways of making a difference, so go online and discover what works best in your area.
Related:
Burning issues, Activists pitch green jobs as a win-win for Rhode Island, A real cool hand, More 
- Burning issues
“Human beings just can’t affect climate that much,” David Arnold remembers Bradford Washburn telling him in 2005.
- Activists pitch green jobs as a win-win for Rhode Island
With global warming looming and the US economy in a mess, environmentalists have a simple answer for promoting environmental protection and economic development.
- A real cool hand
Sad news got to P+J about the passing of American legend Paul Newman.
- Power talk
Two upcoming debates will likely address environmental topics and how they impact jobs, climate change, and our national priorities.
- Expert: Expanding wind power could unhinge insects
Last spring, a red tail hawk was hit and killed by Rhode Island's one functioning wind turbine at Portsmouth Abbey School. Brother Joseph Byron says the bird was the first animal fatality he has seen since the 241-foot-high structure started producing 660 kilowatts in March 2006.
- They said what?
GOP leaders have a reputation for shunning science in favor of politics: on stem-cell research, evolution, and of course, climate change. As the global-warming battle heats up, so has their often-nonsensical rhetoric.
- Conservation in Copenhagen
In about a month, representatives from almost 200 nations will converge on Copenhagen, Denmark, for what could be the most meaningful meeting on climate change, ever.
- Youth to power
Bates College junior Robert Friedman will be missing a couple weeks of class in December.
- Saving the earth
Former Green gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Carter's 120 acres in Lexington township will be the first-ever officially designated "carbon sequestration forest." It remains to be seen whether they will also be the only one.
- The End of the Long Summer
In this nonfiction treatise about global warming and other ecological dangers, the author details why our environment is in much worse shape than we thought. In this excerpt, Dianne Dumanoski notes that, far from taming Mother Nature, our factories and habits have only enraged her, which could lead to Earth's inability to sustain life. In other words, we're all gonna die — enjoy your summer!
- Wet, hot American summer
On June 2, 2106, it’s hot.
- Less
Topics:
News Features
, Science and Technology, Technology, Harvard University, More
, Science and Technology, Technology, Harvard University, Sciences, Earth Science, Climatology, Global Climate Change, Geology, Energy Technology, Nikola Tesla, Less
