SÃO PAULO – In a heroic case of finding a silver lining in the bleakest of all situations, the European Union climate commissioner has concluded that the global economic crisis and recession actually provided a lucky break for everyone. Commissioner Connie Hedegaard says that the slowdown in economic activity will make it easier for the EU to achieve its 2020 goal of ensuring that greenhouse-gas emissions are 20% below their 1990 level. In fact, Hedegaard believes that cutting emissions has become so easy that European leaders should be more ambitious and unilaterally aim for a 30%...

COPENHAGEN – Imagine that over the next 70 or 80 years, a giant port city – say, Tokyo – found itself engulfed by sea levels rising as much as 15 feet or more. Millions of inhabitants would be imperiled, along with trillions of dollars worth of infrastructure. This awful prospect is exactly the sort of thing global-warming evangelists like Al Gore have in mind when they warn that we must take “large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it.” The rhetoric may sound extreme, but with so much hanging in the balance, surely it’s...

COPENHAGEN – Politicians and commentators are understandably pessimistic about the chances of an international deal on carbon cuts emerging from the United Nations summit in Mexico this December. Nothing has been resolved since the Copenhagen climate talks fell apart last year. Fortunately, recent research points to a smarter way to tackle climate change. (...)

SÃO PAULO – In a heroic case of finding a silver lining in the bleakest of all situations, the European Union climate commissioner has concluded that the global economic crisis and recession actually provided a lucky break for everyone. Commissioner Connie Hedegaard says that the slowdown in economic activity will make it easier for the EU to achieve its 2020 goal of ensuring that greenhouse-gas emissions are 20% below their 1990 level. In fact, Hedegaard believes that cutting emissions has become so easy that European leaders should be more ambitious and unilaterally aim for a 30%...

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO Saving Planet? Global warming is not a current threat but a future one. It will cause more heat deaths, flooding and lower agricultural productivity in hot areas. But it will also result in longer growing seasons, more precipitation and fewer cold deaths in most places. Attempts to terrify people about climate change have backfired. Political posturing by celebrity activists and scientists has undermined years of important work on the matter.

Sure, worry about climate change – but not too much by Bjørn Lomborg Exaggerated fear is no basis for making smart decisions about something as complicated as global warming For some years now, the debate over global warming has been dominated by fear. Understandably frustrated that their message might not be getting through, climate activists have been ratcheting up the rhetoric to the point where one could be excused for wondering whether they are quoting from scientific journals or the Book of Revelations. If nothing is done, we’ve been told, global warming would soon destroy...

A Changed Climate Skeptic? Bjorn Lomborg has long infuriated environmental activists with his contrarian views on global warming. Has he now embraced their cause? INTERVIEW BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | SEPTEMBER 3, 2010 It seemed too sensational to be true. On Aug. 30, the Guardian reported that one of the world's most prominent "climate change skeptics," Bjorn Lomborg, had made an apparent about face, now calling for $100 billion to be devoted to stopping global warming. (...)

Bjørn Lomborg: $100bn a year needed to fight climate change Exclusive 'Sceptical environmentalist' and critic of climate scientists to declare global warming a chief concern facing world http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/30/bjorn-lomborg-climate-... Bjørn Lomborg: the dissenting climate change voice who changed his tune With his new book, Danish scientist Bjørn Lomborg has become an unlikely advocate for huge investment in fighting global warming. But his answers are unlikely to satisfy all climate change campaigners http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/30/bjorn...

Research Files: A Chat with Bjorn Lomborg Part 1 of 6 As part of our research for WTF! we interviewed some of the most influential thought leaders we could find. We met up with Bjorn Lomborg for lunch. Video, 6 part episode

China and a New Age of Energy WED JUL 21, 2010 Host: Warren Olney China Overtakes US in Energy Consumption (12:07PM) China has now become the world's biggest consumer of energy. Because of the recession, it overcame the US five years sooner than anybody expected. That means more competition for limited resources, more clout for countries the US doesn't like, and, in the short run, more environmental pollution. What will it mean for green technology, especially if the US continues to lead the way in research while China does the manufacturing? We look at the vast implications of what...