Jane Holtz Kay, Predictor of Climate Change, Dies at 74 - NYTimes.com

“Asphalt Nation,” considered her most ambitious book, offered a unified vision for saving the cities and the planet and achieving social harmony by overthrowing the cultural dominance of the internal combustion engine. “Here at the so-called top of the food chain,” she wrote, “the water we drink, the food we eat, the entire way we live, is corrupted by a toxic artifact. The car, its pollutants, its highways, its trips.”
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Until three years ago, when illness kept her from working, Ms. Kay was working a follow-up to “Asphalt Nation,” called “Last Chance Landscape.” Its subject was global warming, and how it was likely to change our lives sooner rather than later.

China Rules Out New Climate ‘Regime,’ Setting Up U.S. Conflict - Bloomberg

China, India, South Africa and Brazil said a climate agreement expected to take effect in 2020 won’t be a “new regime,” potentially setting up a confrontation with the U.S., which is seeking to eliminate a firewall in negotiations between developed and developing nations.

The four countries are reining in expectations for the Durban Platform, according to a statement released following a meeting of the so-called Basic bloc in Beijing.

Would a carbon tax cut emissions drastically? Not on its own.

Indeed, Muro writes, there’s a growing body of economic research suggesting that a price on carbon can only be fully effective at tackling global warming if it’s paired with increased funding for energy research and technology

Outcome of UN climate talks 'lies in hands of rich nations' | Environment | guardian.co.uk

The four nations, Brazil, China, India and South Africa, known in climate talks as the Basic bloc, released a joint ministerial statement late on Tuesday saying responsibility for the outcome of the latest round of UN climate talks in Doha lay in the hands of rich countries.
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China and India are the world's biggest and third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, respectively.