Editorial: An inconvenient truth: Wisconsin winter

The Oshkosh school district finds itself in a fix over the 2008-09 school calendar. As of now, the last day of school is slated for Tuesday, June 16 because a severe winter has already forced four school cancellations.

Given the record snow and bitter cold temperatures, school officials have been prudent to call off school for student safety. What is no longer palpable is not building snow days into the school calendar.

With much more winter to come, some folks have quipped that students could be in class until the Fourth of July. We can only hope that the last weeks of winter will be far gentler than the first, but unpredictable weather is what makes Wisconsin, well, Wisconsin.

Jennifer Marohasy » Bond University Dismisses Climate Change Sceptic

Interestingly Bond University has a new name for its business and IT faculties, The Faculty of Business, Technology & Sustainable Development, but apparently didn’t like Professor Jenkins’ very public opinion on the subject of sustainable development. For his opinion, Professor Jenkins received an official reprimand from the Bond University Registrar and then was informed last Friday that his adjunct status had been revoked.

No doubt he has contravened some rule or other at the University and no doubt this would have gone unnoticed if Professor Jenkins had a more popular opinion on these most politically charged subjects.

WWF-sponsored study: Allegedly Green Economy Allegedly Will Help Fight Alleged Climate Change

Brussels - January 25, 2009: New figures released today show that moving to a “green” global economy could not only protect the planet from the worst effects of climate change but is surprisingly affordable.

Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy- a new study by McKinsey and Co – shows that global warming can be kept below the critical 2°C rise and that it is well within our means to do so. The study spells out in detail the costs of cutting damaging carbon emissions, but makes it clear that only by acting now will we avoid the worst impacts of climate change. According to WWF, one of the report's sponsors, world leaders now have all the information they need to shape a global climate deal for both developed and developing countries.
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“The McKinsey study shows once and for all that taking action on climate change is both urgent and affordable”, said WWF Director General James Leape. “The figures show clearly that not only can we move to a low carbon economy, but that the costs are manageable. Adopting these measures will be a major step towards avoiding the worst effects of climate change.”