Werner Kunz/Flickr Poor, urban and minority residents are most at risk for health problems linked to climate change, according to a new California Department of Public Health analysis of Los Angeles and Fresno counties. The department examined social and environmental factors ranging from the rising sea level to public transportation access and found that African Americans and Latinos living in these counties are more likely to be exposed to health and safety risks related to poor air quality, heat waves, flooding and wildfires stemming from climate change. “Clearly, climate change risks are not equal across the state or within individual counties,” according to the report [PDF]. “Identifying communities at greatest risk is a necessary step in efficiently employing limited resources to protect public health.” In ... Continue reading →
Wind Power: Plummeting natural gas prices now make this option comparatively expensive.Photo: Dan Forbes John Doerr was crying. The billionaire venture capitalist had come to the end of his now-famous March 8, 2007, TED talk on climate change and renewable energy, and his emotions were getting the better of him. Doerr had begun by describing how his teenage daughter told him that it was up to his generation to fix global warming, since they had caused it. After detailing how the public and private sectors had so far failed at this, Doerr, who made his fortune investing early in companies that became some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names—Netscape, Amazon.com, and Google, among others—exhorted the audience and his peers (largely one and the same) to band ... Continue reading →
Firing a legal salvo directly at the White House, a House committee voted along party lines Thursday to subpoena President Barack Obama’s inner circle for its deliberations over the administration’s failed $535 million investment in a California solar panel maker that was backed by a political fundraiser for the president.The subpoena, which has not yet been issued, would direct the chiefs of staff of the president and vice president to turn over internal correspondence on the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee to Solyndra Inc.After securing its half-billion dollar taxpayer financing in 2009, the fledgling firm this year shut its doors, fired 1,100 workers and filed for bankruptcy.Its collapse gave a black eye to the Energy Department, which has issued billions of dollars in federal support ... Continue reading →