Amid analysis of the G8’s latest climate pronouncement, the announcement of India’s first national climate action plan received less attention than it otherwise might have. Even in the Indian media, the plan was also overshadowed by the release of a McKinsey & Co. report that projects massive power demand growth in the country — 100 gigawatts more demand in the next 10 years than previously estimated. Yet the very same day, the government’s Investment Commission called the “Ultra-Mega” coal plants that are central to India’s strategy to meet that demand a “main reason for persistent capacity shortfalls.”
As reported by India’s Financial Express, the climate change “National Action Plan” consists of a laundry list of programs to be initiated — or more likely, repackaged — on solar power, energy efficiency, agriculture, and a few others. Based on previous performance in the power sector, agriculture seems to be the most promising of those programs (especially considering the Indian government’s success in raising productivity during the Green Revolution). One can hope India will ... Read more
But he cleaned himself up, came back with a joke about surviving Beirut and Jerusalem but running into trouble in Providence, and went on to deliver a stem-winder of an address for an op-ed columnist essentially outlining his latest book.
Commitments to start social-change initiatives and spirited discussions of global issues -- these aren't typical results of 700 college students heading to New Orleans during spring break season. But last weekend, students from a diverse group of colleges, several dozen university presidents, and prominent social change agents -- not to mention Bill Clinton -- spent a day and a half on Tulane University's campus for 