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How we are dropping acid. Into the ocean, that is

A couple of decades ago, on a trip to the United Nations the headquarters, I was an observer during two days of sessions while several hundred international delegates debated provisions of the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Having witnessed a decade’s-worth of fruitless efforts by New England fisheries organizations trying to arrest the slow-motion […]

Energy politics is the new way to save the environment. The Public Utilities Commission is the new frontier

Earlier this month, the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change released a series of reports on the state of the world’s changing climate. Perhaps the most notable thrust of these reports, which were compiled from more than 9,200 studies reviewed and debated by 831 lead authors and editors, was the effort to move beyond the nearly two-decade-long […]

The calming powers of Maine smoked trout, kelp

With international crises dominating news headlines lately, perhaps we should revisit a recent international crisis that was smoothed over with some smoked trout from Maine. We are speaking about the crisis of French President Francois Hollande’s visit to Washington last month. The question of great pith and moment then was whether Hollande would bring his […]

Don’t let politicians wield the weapon of doubt against climate change

When President Barack Obama visited drought-stricken California a few weeks ago, he suggested, “A changing climate means that weather-related disasters like droughts, wildfires, storms, floods are potentially going to be costlier and they’re going to be harsher.” Obama’s California visit provoked furious criticism from his political opponents like Republican U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes of Fresno […]