Ruth Greenspan Bell

President Joe Biden climate change
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his proposed budget for fiscal year 2024, Thursday, March 9, 2023, at the Finishing Trades Institute in Philadelphia. (Credit: White House Photo by Hannah Foslien)
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Op-ed: Biden’s Arctic drilling go-ahead illustrates the limits of democratic problem solving

President Biden continues to deploy conventional tactics against the highly unconventional threat of climate change.

Howls of outrage met the Biden administration decision to allow Arctic oil drilling at the same time it pursues the most climate-friendly agenda of any American president. How can this conflict in priorities be explained?

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United Nations climate change
Credit: UK Government
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Op-ed: It’s time to re-think the United Nations’ COP climate negotiations

When you work on climate change, cognitive dissonance is a daily experience. I recently visited West Virginia to bask in the glorious colors of fall.

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Ruth Greenspan Bell: Wealth and the climate dilemma
Credit: Andrew Martin from Pixabay
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Ruth Greenspan Bell: Wealth and the climate dilemma

Irony abounds as we close out a summer that brought the death of the climate truthteller, scientist James Lovelock, along with news that more countries in Africa and South America have decided to exploit, aggressively, their fossil fuel production – protected areas and former promises be damned.

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Gina McCarthy climate change
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Op-ed: Gina McCarthy takes the reins on national climate action

Gina McCarthy, President Biden's Director of the Office of Domestic Climate Policy, has her work cut out for her.

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COVID-19 vaccine
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Op-ed: The tempting but false COVID-19, climate analogy

As we gradually work our way out of the pandemic with the development and distribution of vaccines, what does our evolving success tell us about the possibilities of resolving the climate change crisis?

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Greenspan Bell: Pump the breaks on climate tax talk

The oddly broad-based support for a carbon tax should make us wake up and pay attention to the important policy details.

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Commentary: To tax or not to tax—that is the question.
Craebby Crabbson/flickr
Causes

Commentary: To tax or not to tax—that is the question.

As bad news continues to roll in regarding the accelerating impacts of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere, there is increasing discussion about imposing a carbon tax. Economists across the political spectrum support it, from Irwin Seltzer’s camp that remains “uncertain as to whether there is a global warming phenomenon” to William Nordhaus, who unequivocally views climate change as a threat.

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From our Newsroom
republican climate change denial

Opinion: House Speaker Mike Johnson’s climate change playbook — deny the science, take the funding

The two-faced charade of climate denial while diving into the pot of federal renewable incentives and tax breaks.

childrens health climate change

Delays in joining the RGGI regional climate program means excess ER visits and child illness in Pennsylvania

Up to 128 premature deaths from air pollution could have been prevented if the state had entered the program in 2022 as planned.

environmental justice

LISTEN: Carlos Gould on wildfire smoke and our health

“Information matters a lot — trying to explain not just that there’s a problem, but how to do something about it.”

fracking PFAS

“Forever chemicals” in Pennsylvania fracking wells could impact health of surrounding communities: Report

More than 5,000 wells in the state were injected with 160 million pounds of undisclosed, “trade-secret” chemicals, which potentially include PFAS.

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

Poor recordkeeping on hazardous waste disposal points to potential for bigger problems, according to a new study.

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