Republicans have been whining about the Obama administration’s liberty-squashing decision to phase out inefficient incandescent bulbs in favor of CFLs, LEDs, and (surprise!) more efficient incandescent bulbs. But (double surprise!) the idea of requiring efficient lightbulbs sprang fully formed from the head of a Republican, Michigan Rep. Fred Upton. Not only did Republicans come up with the idea, but back in 2007, President Bush signed into law a bill mandating the new standards. But none of that matters, because Michele Bachamann doesn't like saving money on her electric bill. So blame the Democrats!

  The Las Vegas strip likes to pretend it’s flush in all manner of luxuries, including water -- even though Lake Mead, which provides the city with water, could disappear within the next decade. Running a giant fountain or indoor canal in the middle of the desert is the hydrological equivalent of flashing fat stacks of cash. But while casinos aren't exactly down with water conservation (that’s for poor people!), the Las Vegas government is. The city nixed grassy lawns, empowered water waste enforcers, and made water really, really expensive for anyone who uses more than they need for basic …

Mitt Romney, in a desperate attempt to fit in, says he wants to burn more coal. Iran's making nuclear power. There’s no way that could go wrong! But worldwide, renewables are beating out nuclear in terms of installed capacity. Two people have died already in the more than 60 wildfires ravaging Texas. A Vermont company thinks it can expand the capacity of the grid by more accurately measuring the heat of power lines and letting utility companies know, based on those measurements, whether they can run more power through their lines. Students, don't buy an iPad if you're only going …

A study published a little while back in Nature found an association between shifts in climate (in this case, shifts associated with El Niño) and international conflict. The researchers' hypothesis was that El Niño was messing with people's psyches and also creating economic shocks by tweaking food prices, dredging up storms, and fostering disease. These effects tend to make people a little testy and, boom!, conflict. But, as Sarah Zielinski writes at Smithsonian, it's too simple to say that climate change will cause war: [The researchers] also caution that there results “might not generalize to gradual trends in average temperature …

Rick Perry wanted to expand a nuclear waste site, owned by one of his donors, but a state commissioner objected. Guess what happened to the state commissioner. No, he wasn’t killed, Jesus! But Perry did offer him another job, in order to bribe him away from the waste commission so he could be replaced. Beijing's going to put congestion fees in place, a policy that New York City has failed to get past suburban commuters. Ah, democracy. Will you be living under high water stress? Some businesses, like the insurance industry, believe in climate change. But that doesn't mean they're …

Michele Bachman wants to drill for oil "whether that is in the Everglades or whether that is in the Eastern Gulf region or whether that is in North Dakota." Even Republicans think this is kind of nuts, because even Republicans are willing to agree that the Everglades has some nice stuff that it'd be darn shame to ruin forever. But for Bachmann, it's a "wonderful treasure trove of energy that God has given us in this country." If you're thinking, oil in the Gulf … ok; oil in North Dakota … sure, I read that New Yorker article; but … …

Solyndra, a solar company that had received more than $500 million in federally backed loan guarantees, is shutting down. Vermont's still reeling from Irene. Oklahoma lawmakers are looking for ways to block the Keystone XL pipeline locally. The organizers of the 2012 London Olympics are dropping their plan to offset the Games' carbon emissions. Weak. Environmental activists in China are going after Apple. LEED standards are getting a makeover so that they actually mean something. This coal ash pond has been leaking coal ash into the ground for 20 years, but no one knows what impact it's had because no …

Workers broke ground recently in Seattle on a six-story building that will generate its own power, collect and reuse rainwater, compost its sewage, and depend on daylight instead of halogen lamps. Its owner, the Bullitt Foundation, which supports work in sustainability, set out to build the greenest building on Earth. We'd say they're earning that title. Other green features: The building is being made with sustainably harvested wood and will not contain contaminants like lead or mercury. Occupants will also be able to open the windows and tenants will be required to use technology that automatically turns off when idle. …

Pickup artists among the great tits (a species of bird, ok?) know how to get chicks: They sing at low frequencies just before females of their species begin laying eggs. It's a great technique! Unless they happen to be hanging out near sources of noise pollution, like highways, which force the tits to change their tune to a higher pitch so that the girls can hear their song in the first place. But that's when things start going wrong. Although female tits will respond to higher songs if they can't hear the lower ones, males competing with noise pollution open …

"The biggest mistake this nation has made in its entire history" would be not to invest in clean energy, VP Joe Biden said yesterday at the National Clean Energy Summit 4.0 The Russian government just cut a deal with Exxon to look for oil in that country’s sector of the Arctic. The next day, Russia raided BP’s Moscow offices. George Monbiot argues that fracking without regulation is insane. Costa Rica's president is responding to tourism needs and economic woes by building an international airport in an environmentally sensitive area. Concrete could be a magical wonder green building material if only …