Articles by Christopher Mims

Let’s cover Mt. Everest with solar panels

Less atmosphere between solar panels and the sun equals more power converted into electricity, says a new map of global solar irradiance. That means high-altitude communities — like every mountain chain from the Andes to Patagonia — could be the next frontier in producing solar power. In addition, the cool temperatures at altitude make panels […]

Electric vehicles improve fuel economy even if people don’t buy them

The first version of a radical new technology always gets off to a slow start -- remember what they said about the first iPhone? -- and so it is with the all-electric Nissan Leaf and plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. Yet both vehicles are having an unexpected effect on their makers' bottom line. By getting people into the showroom, they’re helping to move other fuel efficient vehicles.

EPA chief tells GOP to STFU

That high-pitched whistling is the sound of EPA chief Lisa P. Jackson's hand knifing through the air on the way to delivering a righteous slap upside the head of the GOP. Here are the money quotes from her editorial in yesterday's LA Times, in which she patiently explains that the Grand Ol' Party wants to kill jobs by blocking critical air pollution regulations.

Using the economy as cover, and repeating unfounded claims that "regulations kill jobs," they have pushed through an unprecedented rollback of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and our nation's waste-disposal laws, all of which have successfully protected our families for decades.

If the house succeeds, says Jackson, it will mean the sickening or deaths of hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens.

California adopts nation's first state cap-and-trade program

In what the L.A. Times calls "landmark" legislation, on Thursday California became the first state in the nation to adopt a classic cap-and-trade system for regulating greenhouse-gas emissions.

Cap-and-trade is the centerpiece of AB 32, California's historic climate change law that mandates a reduction in carbon pollution to 1990 levels by 2020. Beginning in 2013 the state's largest carbon emitters will be required to meet the caps or buy credits if they cannot.