Tag Archives: EPA

The Sky as an Inspiration

A week ago, I got a new email from a young friend, reacting to the recent verdict by the Supreme Court that negates Roe vs. Wade, which has defined the abortion landscape for the last 50 years: I was reading … Continue reading

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The Math of the American Commitment

A short entry appeared in the Scientific American journal in the middle of the COP26 meeting: “Doing the Math on Biden’s Climate Pledge.” The author was trying to explain how the Biden administration—only three months after assuming control from an … Continue reading

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Wet and Dry Global Divide

Last week’s blog was “inspired” by hurricane Ida and the damage that it wreaked on Louisiana, the rest of the Gulf Coast, and the northeastern US. I promised that I would expand on the theme of climate change-related extreme weather, … Continue reading

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Utilities: Calculating our Carbon Footprints

I have used Table 1 in the last few blogs (starting on May 11th) to show the carbon intensities for the various sources of energy that we use in large buildings (greater than 25,000ft2) in NYC. From there, I’ve shown … Continue reading

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Electricity Generation: Carbon Intensity and Composition

Two years ago (June 18, 2019), I discussed higher-education carbon emissions. This included the lists that organizations such as the Sierra Club made to rank campuses across the country by their emissions. We split emissions into three categories: Scope 1 … Continue reading

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Earth Day in a Pandemic

Tomorrow is the 50th Earth Day, my wife’s birthday, and the 8th birthday of this blog. Happy Birthday to everybody. This year, however, Earth Day will not be the same festive occasion that will include community events out in the … Continue reading

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Electricity Use: Lighting – Incandescent vs. LED

In this blog, I would like to go through some details about judicious selection of the lighting devices that we use (e.g. incandescent, compact fluorescent, halogen or LED) and when or how much we choose to use our electricity. It … Continue reading

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Graduation: Congrats to My Students!

Classes ended this week. By the time that I post this blog, my students’ final exams will also be history. The last four guest blogs were written by students in my Physics and Society course—a research-based course that I offer … Continue reading

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Expanding Environmental Impact Statements

  I use the cartoon above to teach my students one of the most fundamental tenets of physics, unimaginatively called the “Second Law of Thermodynamics.” A quick Google search will tell you that thermodynamics is, “the branch of physics that … Continue reading

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Climate Change Complementarity: Optimization?

Last week I looked into complementarity, including the Oxford Dictionaries’ definition: A relationship or situation in which two or more different things improve or emphasize each other’s qualities. I’d like to follow up on the question posited there: do countries … Continue reading

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