Here is a story about Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott seeking greenie advice from the Prince of Wales. Any attempt on my part to summarize the tale wouldn't be nearly as good as the article itself, so I offer you the best tidbits of blunt British reporting. I love me some British. The Times on Wal-Mart: Mr Scott is desperate to transform the image of the monolithic retail organisation, which has a history of building huge superstores on the edge of towns on greenfield sites and squashing competition with an aggressive pricing policy. The Times on the Prince of Wales: [A] …

New coalition lobbies Big Auto to build plug-in hybrid cars Plug-In Partners is not, as the name might indicate, a swingers' club. Rather, it's a diverse national campaign -- encompassing cities, electric utilities, national-security hawks, and others -- pushing for plug-in hybrids: gas-electric vehicles with batteries that can be recharged via a regular wall socket. Once powered up (ideally at night, when electric rates tend to be lower) such vehicles could go 20 to 35 miles or more on electricity alone and achieve fuel efficiency of 80 to 100 miles per gallon. The coalition says plug-in hybrids could substantially reduce …

As director of program development at The Environmental Careers Organization, Kevin Doyle knows a thing or two about job searching. In a new column for Grist, he'll explore the green job market and offer advice to eco-job seekers looking to jump-start their careers. Remake a Living: Green job prospects for 2006 Here we are in the first month of a whole new year. If you're like me, you've already broken most of the champagne-fueled resolutions you made on New Year's Eve. At least, you think you made some resolutions, and you're pretty sure you broke them. The whole night was …

A look at green job prospects for 2006 Can't face another year chained to the same old desk or stuck in the same old cube? Itching to start a new career in an environmental field? Fortunately for you, Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization knows a thing or two about job searching. He assesses the upcoming year's eco-jobs market and dispenses advice on how to remake your living.

Taxpayers have been getting screwed on oil and gas royalties A three-month New York Times investigation has uncovered a complex tale of oil and gas royalties, price discrepancies, accounting chicanery, and lax enforcement. But at its heart, it's the same old story: The Bush administration is essentially helping energy companies screw taxpayers. The American people own oil and gas reserves on public land; energy companies pay royalties to extract and sell them. Oil and gas prices have been rising sharply for years, but the royalties haven't -- if they had, taxpayers would have received an additional $700 million in natural-gas …

Reports say cutting greenhouse gases will enhance California's economy Curbing greenhouse-gas emissions will massively boost California's economy, according to two independent analyses of the state's ambitious plans for fighting global warming. The Center for Clean Air Policy, a D.C.-based environmental think tank, found that California could meet its proposed 2010 emissions goals -- mandated last year as part of a climate-change action plan by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) -- at no cost to citizens. And researchers at UC-Berkeley determined that cutting greenhouse-gas emissions would save on fuel, putting money in Californians' pockets, and create new clean-tech jobs. Dirty industries are …

This month, as the Olympic flame makes its torch-uous journey to Turin, Italy, most people's eyes are fixed on the upcoming games. But our eyes are focused a little farther down the track. In our role as sustainability consultants, we've joined the field of those helping the London 2012 Olympics committee work out how to site, design, and host a green event. It's a win-win. Environmental concerns weren't uppermost in Greek minds back in 776 B.C. -- though we assume those laurels were woven from organic olive leaves -- nor did the games boast a green agenda when they were …

Renewable power gets ever more hip with corporate America The Man just can't get enough clean energy. This week, Walgreens and FedEx Kinko's joined Whole Foods as corporate boosters of renewable power. The drugstore chain will install solar-power systems at 96 stores and two distribution centers in California, along with 16 stores in New Jersey. Relatively, it's a drop in the bucket -- Walgreens runs over 5,000 stores. But the systems are expected to replace dirty-energy use equivalent to over 22 million gallons of gas. Meanwhile, FedEx Kinko's announced that it is increasing the company's green-power purchases to about 40 …

California regulators approve landmark solar-power plan With one eco-tastic vote, California is set to become a global clean-energy leader: Yesterday, the state's energy regulators approved about $3 billion in subsidies to promote solar power. Rebates will be paid to residential and business utility customers to encourage installation of enough rooftop solar-power systems by 2017 to generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power about 2.2 million homes, and the equivalent of six new power plants. The 3-1 vote by the California Public Utilities Commission is a major victory for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who took the issue to the …

Joel Makower reports that General Motors will lead a joint demonstration project "to learn more about consumer awareness and acceptance of E85 as a motor vehicle fuel by demonstrating its use in GM's flexible-fuel vehicles." The California Department of Transportation will use some flex-fuel vehicles and work with Chevron Technology Ventures to make sure there are filling stations that offer E85 (gas w/ 85% ethanol). A company called Pacific Ethanol will provide the liquid fuel. Filling stations that sell E85 will be receiving "a lucrative federal tax credit." Joel passes rather lightly over the central problem with biofuels, a problem …