Jersey’s not all gym, tan, laundry. It’s also got more photovoltaic solar power capacity than any state except California (which is 19 times bigger). Even with a small square mileage, wishy-washy East Coast sun, and reality-show meatheads hogging the rays, Jersey’s managing to shore (ha) up its economy with solar -- the state has more jobs in solar power than in traditional power. New governor Chris Christie is revisiting the state’s energy portfolio, though, and while it’s certainly not the case that ALL Republicans are virulently anti-renewables, Jersey’s solar crown might end up at risk. The consequences? Ending up with …

Please, extinction, you think you can beat tigers? Have you SEEN tigers? Okay, so we’ll pass lightly over what happened to their saber-toothed cousins. And tigers aren’t out of the woods yet. But India’s latest tiger census showed a population stronger than it has been in some time -- more than 1,700 tigers, about 300 more than there were in 2007. That’s good news, but tigers are still very endangered, and one tiger ecologist says the study’s methods are dubious and the actual numbers may not be nearly as rosy. Hmm ... perhaps we could work out a way to …

Here’s a novel concept: Cause people to die, get charged with manslaughter. It doesn’t usually work that way with corporations, which apparently get all the benefits of being legally considered “people” with none of the consequences. But federal officials are looking into manslaughter charges for BP managers who presided over the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The explosion killed 11 workers -- not to mention causing a record-setting oil spill that ruined countless livelihoods. And according to anonymous sources, top executives may be held responsible, charged with either involuntary manslaughter or “seaman’s manslaughter” (which carries a steeper penalty). The case would depend …

Playing in Congress this week: Gunfight at the EPA Corral. And the GOP has an itchy trigger finger. Age-old enemy of the planet Sen. James “global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people” Inhofe has introduced a bill to nullify the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases. Sen. Mitch McConnell has proposed the same thing as an amendment to a small business bill. And Democrats have countered with two amendments of their own, which either delay or limit EPA powers without completely stripping them. THANKS, DEMOCRATS. The likelihood is that none of these measures have enough …

The Energy Information Administration's Residential Energy Consumption Survey, released yesterday, shows that average household energy usage has remained remarkably stable over the last 30 years -- even as appliances have gotten way more efficient. Why? Well, we just have a pantload more appliances. (Seriously, look in your pants RIGHT NOW. Do you have a gadget in them? Chances are you do. I've got a phone in my pocket as I write this.) Also, there are 34.5 million more households in the U.S. than there were in 1978, and we're leading increasingly white-collar lifestyles -- air conditioners, dishwashers, washing machines. If …

Aspiring Blues Brothers may be able to get old Crown Vics cheap pretty soon -- but if you’re at all eco-minded, you may not want to drive them. The iconic and soon-to-be-retired police rides only got 14 m.p.g. in the city, but the Ford Interceptor -- set to be their primary replacement when they go out of production -- does 20 to 25 percent better. That’s good news for the planet, but even more compelling for most police departments, it’s also good news for local budgets. Detroit, for instance, could save $2 million a year on fuel costs with a …

That’s right: You may soon be able to use coal to make your car more fuel-efficient. Not by running it on coal -- gross! -- but building it out of metal mixed with structures found in coal ash. Fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal, contains microscopic bubbles called cenospheres. They sound like Clive Barker creatures, but they’re actually really useful -- because when you mix them with metal, they make the metal lighter without compromising its strength. Even regular gas-powered cars could be at least 10 percent lighter, and thus more fuel-efficient, if they were made out of cenosphere-infused …

What's better than trees? I'll tell you: ROBOT TREES. Scientists at MIT have developed "artificial leaves" -- small solar cells, about the size (though not the shape) of an oak leaf, that use a photosynthesis-like process to turn water into electricity. Only they do it ten times more efficiently than natural leaves, and the electricity they produce can be used to power homes in the developing world. Trees: spanked. The leaves are cheap to produce and can operate continuously for 45 hours, which gives them a lot of potential for powering homes in countries where energy infrastructure is prohibitively expensive. …

Congress may dither and dig in their heels about whether global climate change is even a real thing, let alone an emergency that must be prepared for. But soon all Federal agencies -- not to mention a lot of private businesses that deal with the government -- will be implementing plans for adapting to climate change, due to Obama's executive order 13514. That order was signed in 2009, but you probably haven't heard anything about it. Since it was an executive order, there was no arguing or filibustering or petitions or whatever. It just quietly went into effect, and then …

"My best guess [as to how this ends] is there is going to be a bigger breach than we've already seen -- and we suspect there's breaches in the number 2 and number 3 reactors -- there'll be a bigger breach, it'll force the evacuation, and we'll see, I think, at least two core meltdowns and possibly two, maybe more, pool fires, and it will end very very badly. That's what I actually think is going to happen. I hope I'm wrong. I hope they contain it. This will take weeks or months, in the best case, to contain it, …