Economics and Energy

Is Climate Change the Number One Threat to Humanity? (Indur Goklany, WattsUpWithThat, October 17, 2012)
Even assuming the IPCC’s “consensus position,” global warming is far from the greatest threat to humanity. Indeed people will be healthier, wealthier, and longer-lived under the highest IPCC warming scenario than lower ones because of the benefits of the economic growth that would take us there. (Goklany’s full, peer-reviewed paper, summarized at the link above, is behind a subscription wall, but an earlier version is here.

Power Shortage Risks by 2015, Ofgem Warns (BBC, October 5, 2012)
Energy regulations in Europe and the U.S. reduce total energy production and threaten grid stability, both results undermining productivity and so inducing poverty. Grid failure—like that in India that left 700 million without power in August—costs money, productivity, and lives. More here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Food and Agriculture

Rachel Carson and the Bed Bugs (Jeffrey Tucker, Laissez Faire Books, September 24, 2012)
How did one of the most popular books in the history of environmentalism lead to bed bugs in New York—and millions of deaths in Africa? A book-length critique of Carson’s Silent Spring is Silent Spring at 50: The False Crises of Rachel Carson; see also here.

U.S. Biofuel Expansion Cost Developing Countries $6.6 Billion: Tufts (Marlo Lewis, Globalwarming.org, October 12, 2012)
"U.S. biofuel expansion has cost developing countries $6.6 billion in higher food costs, estimates Tufts University economist Timothy A. Wise.” This harms U.S. consumers and millions of the poor in developing countries. Biofuels not only are expensive but also may be a net detriment to the environment because of the nitrogen used in fertilizer.

Law, Regulation, and Litigation

GOP Needs to Start Talking about EPA Reform Now (Steve Milloy, Washington Times, September 18, 2012)
The EPA, it could be argued, is the single most damaging political body to the economy. Regulations on the economy now cost a conservatively estimated $1.75 Trillion (yes, with a "T") per year. Neither major political party can ignore numbers like that.

House Subcommittee Requests Inspector General Review of EPA Experiments on Humans (Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, October 19, 2012)
Congressman Paul Broun, a medical doctor and chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Inspector General requesting investigation of the legality and safety of experiments on the health effects of fine particulate matter on humans after American Tradition Institute’s Environmental Law Center sued EPA. See “Does EPA Grossly Exaggerate? Or Illegally Risk Human Deaths in Experiments?”

Politics and Debate

Why Are Environmentalists Taking Anti-Science Positions? (Fred Pearce, Environment 360, October 22, 2012)
“Three current issues suggest that the risks of myopic adherence to ideology over rational debate [among environmentalists] are real: genetically modified (GM) crops, nuclear power, and shale gas development. The conventional green position is that we should be opposed to all three.” In all three the statistics show safety, cleanliness, and benefits outweigh small and easily mitigated risks.

Global Warming Stopped 16 Years Ago, Reveals Quietly Released Met Office Report (David Rose, Daily Mail UK, October 13, 2012)
“… the ‘plateau’ or ‘pause’ in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. Before that, temperatures had been stable or declining for about 40 years.” Phil Jones, head of University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, centerpiece of Climategate, says that’s too short a time to define a trend; he doesn’t say the same of the 15- to16-year warming period. Climate expert Judith Curry vindicated Daily Mail. More here.