Per Capita Davis: Curtain comes down on COP28
This is my last column of 2023. It’s about the end of the 28th Conference of Partners as representatives from 200 countries tried once again to grapple with the climate crisis. Many have trumpeted the results, calling the final agreement historic and game changing. Although there…
Per Capita: Jonathan, Jane and Julia
Whether it’s reading it or writing it, this column can be depressing. The climate crisis is real. Describing or reading about the consequences of not addressing it with sufficient policies, actions, or urgency can paint a dark picture. It’s important to know the scope of…
Per Capita: One step forward, two steps back … or is it the other way around?
The prior column was about pieces of the puzzle, how if we raise our gaze from our own circumstance with heat, drought, flood, whatever and take in the growing ubiquity of these extreme events around the planet, we will see a picture that requires us…
Per Capita Davis: The world needs to reflect resilience, redundancy and cooperative governance
Eventually, on this planet of increasing population and not inexhaustible resources, the issue of sustainability will take center stage. We talk about it now, but my guess is that not too far in the future the discussion will take on a more serious and urgent…
Per Capita Davis: How big is the battle?
“Dire” — an adjective describing an extremely serious or urgent situation or event causing great fear or suffering. Synonyms include horrible, atrocious, shocking, outrageous, unspeakable, alarming and grim. The front page, above the fold, headline in the May 7 edition of The New York Times…
Per Capita Davis: Some good news for a change
Spring has sprung and its time for some good news for a change on the climate front. First, maybe a new approach will help solve the issue of where to locate solar panels. Some people (fewer now) complain that they are unsightly and don’t want…
Per Capita Davis: When scientists disagree
One thing is clear; the climate crisis is real, human burning of fossil fuel is by far the major driver, and we are feeling the predicted effects right now. OK, that was three things. The truth of this cleanly divides scientists from deniers. What is…
Per Capita Davis: A few positive signposts
Hopefully we haven’t leapfrogged from winter into summer, and we’ll get to enjoy spring weather for a while. Spring always brings with it a burst of life energy as dormant trees begin to leaf out, the hills and fields are covered with an intensely beautiful…
Per Capita Davis: Speaking about the climate crisis
A consistent theme in these columns has been an ambiguity from the author over how to talk about the climate crisis in a way that motivates rather than depresses. Two recent news reports take on this topic directly. First, a study published in the Journal…
Per Capita Davis: I will be a hummingbird
Wangari Maathai started the Green Belt Movement in her native Kenya in 1977 in order to, as the GBM website indicates, “respond to the needs of rural Kenyan women who reported that their streams were drying up, their food supply was less secure, and they…
Per Capita Davis: A white roof is a cool roof
I don’t know how it could have happened, but somehow I missed every single one of the 100 episodes of “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” Most probably, this was because the show was aimed at children and aired during the daytime when I was at…
Per Capita Davis: Seven big reasons for hope
I love getting knocked out of my bubble, where it sometimes seems to constantly rain bad news about the climate crisis that crowds out anything positive. There was a recent article in The Guardian, a news organization dedicated to “independent investigative journalism,” that brightened my…
Per Capita Davis: These companies mean business
Crossposted from the Davis Enterprise From page A9 | November 15, 2017 There’s been an avalanche of news recently about the current discussions in Bonn, Germany, about the climate crisis. Leaders of all of the countries of the world are gathered to follow up on the…
Per Capita Davis: Tour the country for heartening energy-saving news
Crossposted from the Davis Enterprise Still engaged in an internal fight between optimism and pessimism about the climate crisis, I took an online tour around the country to see if We the People are all in on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Examples of what I found…
Per Capita Davis: Good news for local solar power
April 19, 2017 By John Mott-Smith Crossposted the Davis Enterprise page A10 This column is primarily about rooftop solar in Yolo County, but before we get to that, there have been at least two interesting announcements from the tech world recently in terms of the future…
Per Capita Davis: Words matter when describing this crisis
By John Mott-Smith From page A8 | March 01, 2017 I was watching a news show the other day and a reporter asked an elected representative in Congress if he believed in climate change. The somewhat smart-alecky response was, “Sure I do, the climate changes…
Per Capita Davis: Batten down the hatches
By John Mott-Smith Crossposted from the Davis Enterprise From page A9 February 01, 2017 The last column was about the “calm before the storm,” one way of looking at what was then the impending change in the office of president of the United States. Way back…
Per Capita Davis: One step forward, two steps back?
Crossposted from the Davis Enterprise December 21, 2016 By John Mott-Smith I typically use the last column of the year to sum up progress, or the lack of it, in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. This year there’s so much to say, perhaps summed up as “elections…
Per Capita Davis: Let the sun shine on our solar panels
By John Mott-Smith Cross Posted from the Davis Enterprise From page A10 | July 06, 2016 Each year I try to assemble data from each of the cities, and Yolo County, on the number of solar photovoltaic systems installed on homes and businesses. The quality of record-keeping varies…
Per Capita Davis: Progress being made under the radar
This article has been reproduced from the Davis Enterprise published March 2, 2016 By John Mott-Smith The Paris climate talks created enthusiasm and hope that the world is moving away from fossil fuels and toward renewables. The U.S. commitment to this goal leans heavily on…
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