3E Intelligence

A few interesting stories caught my eye over the Easter weekend (which was pretty Xmas-like here in Brussels with snow and winter-like temperatures):

• At the end of last week, the International Herald Tribune reported about a few older “young boys” on some exotic island “plotting to save the planet”, but only if they could make some big bucks out of the operation. Made me think of “Lord of the Flies”. Maybe these guys should be called “Lords of the Lies”?
• The Wall Street Journal is one of my favourite newspaper, not so much because I agree with their ideology, but because of the quality of their writing and reporting. To my great amazement its 24 March edition has two excellent pieces on limits to growth, Malthus and our natural resources and population explosion predicament. The first article is called “New Limits to Growth”Revive Malthusian Fears“; the second is a discussion between two eminent scientist under the title “Could Resources Become A Limit to Global Growth?“. Must-read stuff for anyone interested in the climate-energy debate.
• The last item for today is another thought-provoking scientific piece written by US climate expert James Hansen. In the article, Hansen questions the wisdom of the 450 ppm (2° celcius) target set by the scientific community and the European Union as the maximum acceptible level of global warming. “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm [where we are now - WDB] to at most 350 ppm”, says Hansen.