Category Archives: Climate Change

Guest Blog by Jay Pei: Taoism

We were approaching Shanghai’s City God Temple (Chenghuang Miao), a well-known Taoist temple. Our guide, Jay Pei, started to explain the essence of Taoism. He had done his homework before meeting us and learned of my background on climate change, … Continue reading

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Mongolia’s Nomads

Last week I described sailing along a segment of the Yangtze River and my visit to the Three Gorges Dam – a project that displaced 1.3 million people. The Chinese government provided them with alternative housing, and in many cases, … Continue reading

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China – Water, Energy and the Yangtze

It seems right now that when China sneezes the world is shaken. Not only does that apply to the obvious recent economic upset, but it also means that in tackling any global issue we need the country’s involvement. Climate change, … Continue reading

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China – Air Quality

My last two blogs described some of China’s largest cities’ attempts to limit their number of cars. A lot of this had to do with reducing the terrible air pollution in these cities. Pollution is one of the key reasons … Continue reading

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Cars in China – Cap and Pay

Last week’s blog ended with the following promise: “… a few of the largest cities in China are now taking drastic steps to limit car ownership – a fact that I was completely unaware of until my visit.” Time to … Continue reading

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China – How Many Cars Can a City Handle?

Right now, China has the largest global market for new cars. According to the last count by the International Organization of Motor Vehicles Manufacturers, there are 833 million light vehicles currently (2015) in use worldwide. About 10% of these cars … Continue reading

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China – The Price of Progress: Inequality and Transparency

While I was in China (see last week’s blog), one of the questions that I asked most often – especially of those who mentioned that they have small children – was how people imagine China 20 years from now. This … Continue reading

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Back From China

In a previous blog (December 3, 2012) I described a common exercise that I give to students to highlight the important skill of scenario building: In the table below I ask undergraduates from my course (General Education – no prerequisites) … Continue reading

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Vacation Notice

This week I am taking a break from the blog, so there will be no post. Please do come back next Tuesday, when I promise to continue our discussions.

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The Drop in Oil Price and What it Means

The test of any major transition is in its response to a sharp perturbation. Often such disturbances come in the form of a major war. Fortunately, the present global energy transition is being tested in a much more peaceful manner. … Continue reading

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