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About OneDegreeChange: Building a Green Economy By Paul Krugman If you listen to climate scientists — and despite the relentless campaign to discredit their work, you should — it is long past time to do something about emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. If we continue with business as usual, they say, we are facing a rise in global temperatures that will be little short of apocalyptic. And to avoid that apocalypse, we have to wean our economy from the use of fossil fuels, coal above all. But is it possible to make drastic cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions without destroying our economy? Like the debate over itself, the debate over climate economics looks very different from the inside than it often does in popular media. The casual reader might have the impression that there are real doubts about whether emissions can be reduced without inflicting severe damage on the economy. In fact, once you filter out the noise generated by special-interest groups, you discover that there is widespread agreement among environmental economists that a market-based program to deal with the threat of climate change — one that limits carbon emissions by putting a price on them — can achieve large results at modest, though not trivial, cost. There is, however, much less agreement on how fast we should move, whether major conservation efforts should start almost immediately or be gradually increased over the course of many decades. In what follows, I will offer a brief survey of the economics of climate change or, more precisely, the economics of lessening climate change. I’ll try to lay out the areas of broad agreement as well as those that remain in major dispute. First, though, a primer in the basic economics of environmental protection. To read the entire article, please click the More on this Topic link below. The New York Times | Top | Share Your Thoughts...  Did You See What President Obama Said About Insulation...We Agree.
President Obama recently called insulation "sexy." Recent studies further emphasize the importance of insulation. Polyiso is the product of choice for rigid board insulation, used in both roof and wall applications around the globe. To find out more about what the President had to say, click here. For more about Atlas polyiso products, click here. One Degree of Warming Having Major Impact, Study Finds.
Thermal Minimums Raised
 For the first time in over 19 years, ASHRAE has increased the minimum required prescriptive R-value (resistance to heat flow) for roof and wall insulation levels in Standard 90.1 – the national model energy code for commercial buildings. |
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Human-induced climate warming is already having a dramatic effect on Earth's plumbing, plants, and animals, according to an exhaustive analysis of data from around the world. ©2008 - 2010 Copyright Atlas Roofing Corporation - All Rights Reserved | 