Given that the Republicans in power are clearly willing to go to the mat to make sure we make no further strides towards improving the environment, this is good news: Even if the government takes no further action to regulate greenhouse gases, our emissions will grow much more slowly than predicted in coming years. In 2006, the Energy Information Administration projected that carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions would rise 37 percent by 2030. But a new EIA report now says that, even in the absence of further regulation, there will only be a negligible increase by then. The report …

Close your eyes and stick your finger into a map of the United States. (A map. A big piece of paper with a picture of the country? Okay, look it up on Google Images, we'll wait.) Chances are you just poked a county with dangerous levels of ozone or particle pollution in the air. Nearly 50 percent of the U.S. population lives in counties that the American Lung Association gives an "F" for air quality. California is a major offender, boasting eight of the 10 most ozone-polluted cities and half of the cities with the worst short-term and long-term particle …

I've noticed that I have zero posts in my Twitter feed about how awesomesauce the royal wedding is, and 2930820385 about how nobody else will shut up re: the royal wedding and its awesomeness. But clearly somebody somewhere is into this, so okay, this one's for you: Looks like Prince Harry and Princess Hermione, or whoever, are taking steps to turn their wedding from a completely over-the-top exercise in overconsumption to an eco-completely-over-the-top exercise in overconsumption. Here's how the royals are going to avoid doing to the environment what they did to their colonies: Printing documents -- which undoubtedly include …

Robert Krulwich has a post up about the superb lyrebird (real name!), which is COMPLETELY RIDIC. What's so superb? How about the ability to mimic any noise it hears with astonishing faithfulness, that do anything for you? It's the auditory equivalent of that girl from Heroes who could copy anything she saw on TV and then completely disappeared off the show despite having the best power of anyone. If you watch a video of a lyrebird in action, I guarantee you will have a moment of thinking you're being punked. Here's where it gets depressing, though: Along with kookaburra calls and …

Today is the 25th anniversary of the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Here's part one of a spooky-as-hell film showing scientists venturing inside the plant's cement sarcophagus, which keeps its nuclear material contained (for now). A few other things to look at today: What's the ecology of Chernobyl today? Some wildlife has returned, but there are fewer animals and less biodiversity than elsewhere, and they're still being affected by the fallout: In high-radiation "hot spots," birds have five percent smaller brains, says Agence France-Presse. Especially orange birds. Really. As for the human impact, there are five families still living …

Apparently the whole "we support handing out bags full of money to the rich because we care about the little guy" act is harder to keep up than we'd realized. Put John Boehner under a little pressure about oil company subsidies and he buckles like a belt. ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl got the speaker to admit that oil companies "ought to be paying their fair share," that "big oil companies don't need to have the oil depletion allowances" (roughly a $1 billion annual subsidy) and that "we should be looking at" Obama's proposals to cut oil company tax breaks. …

New York City is working on a school garden revolution. The city just awarded grants to 29 public schools to establish or expand school gardens, adding to the 300-ish gardens currently in operation. The goal, according to director of garden-boosting nonprofit GrowNYC, is "to have a garden or access to a garden in every public school in the city." They've got a ways to go -- there are 1,600 schools -- but NYC mayor Bloomberg says he's committed to the initiative. It's really cute to see what the kids are saying about the gardens, which are secretly about teaching them …

Well, Sarah Palin will like this one: Congress has quietly removed wolves from the endangered species list in almost every state, leading hunters in the Rocky Mountain states to gear up for an unprecedented wolf-slaughtering party. Wolf numbers have grown to 1,700 since 1994, and proponents of the delisting say the new healthier population of wolves has meant that the predators have knocked the elk population down 20 percent. Clearly, then, the answer is to start making your ironic T-shirts out of real wolves. At least, Congress thinks so.

New cuteness rule: Anything that contains a smaller version of itself is adorable. Think about it: Kangaroos, koalas, Mandelbrot sets. (No? Adorable fractals? Nobody?) Ergo the McCar, from Chinese company Geely, is the cutest EV ever, because it's not just a sweet little full-electric or hybrid car. It also contains a tiny fold-up electric scooter, which charges itself as you drive. For us poor suckers who live outside the city, this is brilliant. You can drive your car to somewhere parkable, then hop on your fully-charged tricycle and go the rest of the way to your office/bar/whatever. The trike has …

Here’s a good way to cut down on waste: Stop breaking sh*t. To that end, scientists are working on self-healing materials that can extend the life of your belongings. One new polymer, developed by scientists in Switzerland, can heal deep scratches just by being exposed to ultraviolet light. It's like an immune system for your gadgets. Thanks to metal ions embedded in the plastic, UV light heats and melts it a tiny bit, just enough for it to fill in scratches and cracks. Right now, it only works when the material is thin enough to be translucent -- the display …