While U.S. border monitors were busy looking for terrorists in cargo containers, a slew of invasive species slipped unnoticed into the country. Whatever that sheen in the Gulf is, it's not BP's fault, okay?? If carbon is a risk (and it is!), the market should adjust for that, valuing companies with high "exposure to climate change" less than those that are climate-resilient. But since markets don't seem to ever do what they should in theory, that hasn't happened yet. Electric vehicles are only as climate-positive as the electric grid that fuels them, so in places like China where coal-fired electricity …

Long ago, in a land far, far away, where it seemed possible that carbon cap-and-trade would be a thing that we all got on board with, the European Union decided it would make sense to include air travel in its carbon trading scheme, because flying on planes is one of the most carbon-intensive activities that humans engage in. But — psych! — turned out no one (*cough* Congress *cough*) really wanted to deal with carbon. The E.U., however, did not get that memo and still wants to charge American airlines for the carbon they emit on their way to Europe. …

Sometimes you wish government bureaucrats would just stop and think. It's been clear for a while now that the State Department favors the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. But one would think that they'd like to at least preserve the appearance that they were conducting a thorough and unbiased review of the pipeline’s environmental impacts. Apparently that wasn't a particular concern, because the department allowed TransCanada, the pipeline operator, to participate in the selection of the company conducting the environmental review. Perhaps less than surprisingly, Transcanada recommended Cardno Entrix, which considers TransCanada a "major client," to do the job. …

Oil has reached New Zealand beaches, after an oil tanker ran into a reef last week. The tanker was carrying 1,700 tons of oil and 200 tons of diesel. All these attacks on obscure regulations about boilers and concrete might seem boring, but in reality, they're part of a campaign that could destroy decades of environmental progress. Europeans think that climate change is one of the top two issues facing the globe. (Although the No. 1 concern was a sort of Voltronesque mega-problem: poverty, hunger, and lack of drinking water.) Rick Perry used to be against ethanol, but now he's …

In the department of cool inventions you'll probably never use, the inventor of the Segway has come up with an idea for an inflatable wind turbine. Its main advantage is that it's mobile: imagine parking your EV and sending your inflatable wind turbine up into the sky to charge it while you're at work. It could be moved to take advantage of the best winds as they shift, and, more to the point, It could also be mounted on top of a building or on the side of the road in order to double as a billboard. Like the Segway, …

Jonathan Silver, DOE's loan guarantee czar, is the first government employee to lose his job over Solyndra. leaving the government because the loan guarantee program doesn't have any money left, anyway. Solyndra's also screwing the rest of the cleantech industry. The BP spill is still affecting Louisiana, where the oyster season could be delayed and shrimp harvests dropped 99 percent. A judge ruled that the EPA was a little too excited about regulating West Virginia coal mines and should have gone through more formal rulemaking on guidelines to dump coal waste into streams. Another part of their work, on water …

Every step the Obama administration takes towards approving the Keystone XL pipeline means a step towards putting more money into the pockets of Koch Industries. Although the company has denied having an interest in the pipeline (it has "nothing to do with any of our businesses," company reps have told Rep. Henry Waxman's staff), Inside Climate News has uncovered documents proving that a Koch Industries subsidiary has a business interest in the approval of the pipeline. The subsidiary, Flint Hills Resources Canada LP, describes itself as "among Canada's largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters." It filed as an intervenor …

The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Inc., and Western Nebraska Resources Council sued the U.S. for starting work preemptively on the Keystone XL pipeline. The Department of Energy thought (but not that hard! Really!) about giving Solyndra an additional $469 million loan. The mystery of why the FBI kept British environmentalist John Stewart from entering the country: Explained. Apparently the bureau was concerned he would super-glue himself to Sarah Palin. Some of the oldest Arctic ice melted this summer. As Barack Obama always says: Drill, baby, drill! Wait, that wasn’t Obama? Well, now it is. One more …

It's possible that the 19th century British powers-that-be were just running a really, really long con when they sent their convicts to settle Australia, because anyone who lives there now is royally screwed. In Rolling Stone, Jeff Goodell chronicles exactly how screwed. (Answer: Royally.) In the few weeks he was there, Goodell encountered: a record heat wave, a crippling drought, bush fires, floods that swamped an area the size of France and Germany combined, even a plague of locusts. And in the longer term, What water is left is becoming increasingly salty and unusable, raising the question of whether Australia, …

You know that fantasy you have where you move to Maine, go off the grid, and raise your children to know what nature and good old American values are like? Well, one family is living that fantasy, and writing about it for The New York Times. All summer, Craig and Susannah Hopkins Leisher have been living with their three sons in a cabin in the Maine woods. They're not cut off from civilization: They have laptops, and Craig works remotely for the Nature Conservancy. But they do things like cut their own wood, go canoeing for hours, teach their kids …