Each week, we review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted at the “indispensable” RFF Library Blog, curated by RFF Librarian Chris Clotworthy. Check out this week’s highlights below:
A Reconstruction of Regional and Global Temperature for the Past 11,300 Years
New research suggests average global temperatures were higher in the past decade than over most of the previous 11,300 years, a finding that offers a long-term context for assessing modern-day climate change....The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, aims to give a global overview of Earth’s temperatures over the past 11,300 years—a relatively balmy period known as the Holocene that began after the last major ice age ended and encompasses all of recorded human civilization.— via Wall Street Journal
Liquefied Natural Gas Exports: an Opportunity for America
Prohibitions or restrictions on US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are a bad idea. LNG exports will deliver economic benefits to the US economy. The US Department of Energy should approve pending LNG export applications for projects at an advanced planning stage, in conjunction with appropriate regulation to limit environmental dangers from wells to ports. Three strong considerations support this recommendation... — via Peterson Institute for International Economics
Building New Nuclear: The Challenges Ahead
Failure to build a new fleet of nuclear power stations in the UK could make it much more expensive to meet our climate change targets and Ministers must stop ‘crossing their fingers’ and urgently develop a back-up energy strategy, a report by the Energy and Climate Change Committee argues… — via UK Parliament, Committee on Energy and Climate Change
Assessing the Effectiveness of the EU Emissions Trading System
The European Union’s plans for reform its emissions trading scheme (ETS) will fail to deliver the desired increase in carbon prices unless they are accompanied by more drastic action...That is the stark warning contained in a new report released today by the London School of Economics (LSE) Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, which warns proposals to withhold the sale of carbon allowances will only defer the problems created by an over-supply of tradable EU allowances (EUAs). — via London School of Economics
Draft Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline
The State Department issued a revised environmental impact statement for the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline on Friday that makes no recommendation about whether the project should be built but presents no conclusive environmental reason it should not be… — via U.S. Department of State
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