Sunday 12 May 2013

Funding for the May 2013 Europe trip

During my career, I have been invited to speak on climate policy by an incredible diversity of social, cultural and political entities - providing advice to politicians across the ideological spectrum, corporations, industry associations, environmental groups, faith-based communities, and so on. Usually my travel costs are covered by those who invite me. On this particular trip to Europe, I have been invited by members of the European parliament. While here, I will also be speaking to various NGO's, including Friends of the Earth Europe and a group called Transport and the Environment. I am covering personally some of my travel costs and these groups are also providing some assistance with costs. My time is completely voluntary and there is no use of my academic research funds.

Saturday 11 May 2013

Correcting some misinformation out there: the facts on the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize


In order to discredit me, especially my arguments about the need for humanity to quickly reduce carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels, someone has accused me of falsely portraying myself as a Nobel laureate. I have never presented myself as a laureate. I was, indeed, a contributing author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, especially in the 1990s, and this organization was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore in 2007.

Wednesday 8 May 2013

A letter to Minister Oliver from climate scientist and energy experts

On May 7th 2013, I was among twelve Canadian climate scientists and energy experts who sent a letter addressed to Natural Resources Minister the Hon. Joe Oliver.

As professionals who have devoted our careers to understanding the climate and energy systems, we are concerned that the Minister’s advocacy in support of new pipelines and expanded fossil fuel production is inconsistent with the imperative of addressing the climate change threat. We are going to have to wean ourselves off our addiction to fossil fuels. Thus our choices about fossil fuel infrastructure carry significant consequences for today’s and future generations.