ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Winter 2012-13
Belfer Center Newsletter Winter 2012-2013
Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
The Winter 2012-13 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This edition highlights the Belfer Center’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In addition to the background on those 13 days in 1962 when the world was on the brink of nuclear war, the Center focuses on the decision-making that averted a nuclear catastrophe and the lessons from that event for leaders of today. We include winners and winning entries from our “Best Cuban Missile Crisis Lessons” contest, co-sponsored with Foreign Policy magazine.
Winter 2012-2013
"Center Team Advances Vital Research at Intersection of Water and Energy"
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
Two years ago, Venkatesh (Venky) Narayanamurti and Laura Diaz Anadon, director and associate director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy program, set the stage for the Center’s energy research team to zero in on the challenges facing energy and the natural resource essential to it in many countries around the world—water. This article reviews some of their work to date.
Winter 2012-2013
Q&A with David Keith
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
David Keith is Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. The award-winning scientist, who was named one of TIME magazine's Heroes of the Environment in 2009, has worked near the interface of climate science, energy technology, and public policy for twenty years. He divides his time between Boston and Calgary, where he serves as president of Carbon Engineering—a start-up company developing industrial-scale technologies for capture of CO2 from ambient air. Here, Keith answers questions about his research and ideas for reducing climate change using innovative and sometimes controversial methods.
November 30, 2012
"Turning Points"
Op-Ed, New York Times
By Niall Ferguson, Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
We yearn for turning points, writes Niall Ferguson. "Just as economists have predicted nine out of the last five recessions, so journalists have surely reported nine out of the last five revolutions. Every election is hailed as epoch-making. Every president is expected to have a new foreign policy 'doctrine.' A minor redesign of a cellular phone is hailed by the devotees of the Apple cult as a 'paradigm shift.'"
November 29, 2012
Harvard Project to Host Event at COP-18 with Government of Qatar
Announcement
Distinguished panelists will provide high-level insights into the state of climate policy—and prospects for the future—as COP-18 comes to an end. The event will take place on Thursday, December 6, 2012.
November 2012
"Can New Market Mechanisms Mobilize Emissions Reductions from the Private Sector?"
Discussion Paper
Negotiators, business leaders, and others concerned with climate change are attempting to develop market mechanisms that expand and improve upon those provided by the Kyoto Protocol. These "new market mechanisms" might be incorporated into a new international arrangement called for at COP-17 in Durban, South Africa. Dr. Michaelowa explores the paths forward.
AP Photo
November 7, 2012
"Five Things Obama Must Do"
Op-Ed, CNN.com
By Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
"Now that the campaign is over and Barack Obama has won a second term, the hard business of governing begins again. There's a presidential inbox waiting and it's not too hard to figure out what's in it. Problems don't have Democrat or Republican stamped on them: they just are."
November 6, 2012
"The Coming Oil Glut"
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Leonardo Maugeri, Roy Family Fellow, Geopolitics of Energy Project
"The price of oil continues to be set by fear, not by supply and demand," writes Leonard Maugeri. "World-wide oil production is growing quickly. By the end of the year, it will probably surpass 92 million barrels per day, with additional spare capacity of more than 3.5 million barrels. Thanks to the shale oil revolution, U.S. crude production could exceed 6.5 million barrels per day by the end of the year: around one million more barrels than the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted in January."
November 5, 2012
Harvard Project to Conduct Side-Event at COP-18
Announcement
The event is titled "Market Mechanisms in a Post-Durban International Climate Regime" and will be held on Monday, December 3, 2012, in Side Event Room 7 from 3–4:30 PM in Doha, Qatar. We cordially invite all of our friends and colleagues attending COP-18 to join us.
AP Photo
November 5, 2012
"After Sandy, Environmentalists, Military Find Common Cause"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Juliette Kayyem, Lecturer in Public Policy
"Today, one hurricane (or tornado or fire or drought) does not constitute proof of climate change, but to deny the cumulative impact of extreme weather on geopolitics is no longer tenable. Changes in the environment will exacerbate destabilization in areas of deep strategic importance to the United States, including Asia, the Middle East, the Arctic, and Latin America. Facing increased temperatures, people will have to move to avoid rising sea water, tidal infiltrations, or arid soil; they will be searching for water, food, and space. The movement of people, and the fights between them over commodities, have been the causes of many wars."
