In this edition:
- How using satellites can help reduce uncertainty about climate change
- A look at the president’s arctic drilling plans
Satellite Climate Data
NASA is contemplating a series of space-based Earth observation and monitoring equipment worth several billion dollars, prompting speculation on the “approximate dollar sign on the information that would come from a state-of-the-art climate satellite system.” RFF’s Roger Cooke notes that improving the collection of such data is “always a question of reducing but not eliminating the uncertainty” in climate change projections. He explains more in an RFF blog post, “Why the Climate Problem Requires a New Generation of Uncertainty Analysis.”
Arctic Drilling Approval
The Obama administration has approved new and updated rules for oil and natural gas producers operating in the Arctic’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The regulations are meant to “[take] into account the unique circumstances that make the Arctic different from other offshore drilling areas” and are expected to be released publicly sometime this week.
In a new blog post, RFF’s Alan Krupnick and Katrina McLaughlin discuss another recent decision by the White House to protect 9.8 million offshore acres of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas from oil and gas development using a presidential memorandum. They write: “The content is to a reasonable degree internally consistent with past administration goals, while the process is not. . . . There is a need for increased coordination at the federal level (as put forth in the recent Executive Order), in addition to the need to refocus on coordination and engagement with state and local partners.”
Clarification: We want to make clear that in the February 17 installment of RFF on the Issues, the article “Talking Like Grownups About Climate Change” by Cass R. Sunstein is not directly affiliated with the NYTimes/RFF/Stanford poll.
