Google continues to roll out new details about its wirelessly-controlled “smart” lightbulb, which gets around all the problems usually associated with making a home energy-aware. The latest: the company is working on open-source software that will run on the lightbulbs themselves. Instead of re-wiring your house and connecting it to an expensive home energy-management system, Google's new bulbs will contain everything you need to program them to go on and off at certain times, or to turn themselves off after you (and your Android phone, with which they communicate) leave the room. Sticking a computer inside a lightbulb might seem …

Michele Bachmann isn't crazy -- she's just horribly misinformed. At least in this particular instance: When Bachmann promised that if she became president, gas would be under $2 a gallon, her statement was entirely consistent with the voodoo alternate energy universe she and countless right-wing conspiracy theorists happen to inhabit. The only reason I even know this is that I've occasionally had run-ins with this alternate plane of reality, in which otherwise rational people truly, fervently believe that America has enough oil within its borders to last the country for centuries, but a liberal cabal led by the EPA is …

Certified organic ... chemical free ... dolphin-safe ... the stamps and slogans on food labels make a lot of promises, but can they back it up? Audobon magazine breaks down which labels are meaningful and which are USDA-certified bull crap. These labels can't be used without independent verification: USDA Organic Fair Trade  Rainforest Alliance Food Alliance Demeter Biodynamic Salmon-Safe Bird Friendly Certified Humane Raised and Handled FishWise  Non-GMO Project Verified Healthy Grown Potatoes These should be taken with a grain of salt -- they may mean something, but they don't have to: Raised Without Antibiotics Natural Free Range Grass Fed  …

Stronger solar policies could create over 100,000 jobs in just a few years, according to this (excerpted) infographic from One Block Off the Grid. That's not a lot, proportional to the unemployment crisis, but given that CERTAIN PEOPLE are always talking about sustainable energy as a job-killer, it's pretty good. And jobs would only go up over a longer period. Over ten years, if state legislators instituted strong solar incentives, Texas would stand to gain 21,714 jobs and Florida 16,858, not to mention thousands of jobs in other states.

Got an electric car? And some wind? Then this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship, if you add in the Sanya Skypump for a horsepower three-way. Sure, you might think putting a wind turbine on an electric car charging station is kind of obvious, if you are a wiseacre. But the Skypump is a vertical-access turbine good for urban areas, parking lots, basically anywhere with winds between 7 and 26 mph. The Skypump will be rolling out in Barcelona, Beijing and NYC next year, where its $30,000 pricetag is nothing compared to what Jay-Z spends on champagne in a …

'Flotovoltaics,' solar panels that float on existing reservoirs, leads to all kinds of unexpected side benefits. At the Far Niente winery in Napa Valley, which pioneered the technology in the U.S., their floating solar grid reduces evaporation from their irrigation pond and inhibits algae growth. It also saves the winery from giving up valuable grape-growing land, even as it produces more electricity than the winery uses. And the benefits work both ways -- the water can boost solar panel efficiency in hot climates. In Israel, Solaris Syntec uses evaporative cooling to keep its floatovoltaics at a constant temperature, which makes …

Once nearly extinct in England, otters have now returned to every county, indicating that rivers are at their healthiest in decades. Conservationists had predicted that it would be another 10 years before the otters reached this level of repopulation, so it's a real triumph for the iittle dudes. Not to mention an overwhelming stroke of good fortune for Brits, who can now watch otters play from the comfort of their homes, the lucky bastards. Otters have reappeared in places where they have not been seen since the industrial revolution, including Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, and even on the Thames and …

Obama wants 80 percent of America's energy to come from clean and renewable sources by 2035. But what would that really take? Mostly, it means replacing 2/3 of our coal-fired power plants with power sources that don't depend on fossil fuels. The scale of that ambition is difficult to comprehend -- which is why it's handy that Climate Central has created an interactive to walk you through what it really means. The image above is just a screengrab -- run, don't walk, to the original.)

You know how when you go snorkeling, the guide tells you not to touch, breathe on, or even think about getting anywhere near the coral because it's really sensitive and also a great marine resource? Well, it's all true, but on a macro level, humans haven't been paying attention to those instructions and instead have been spraying the coral down with water contaminated with our waste. So basically we have been POOPING ON THE CORAL, which is kind of the opposite of not touching it. And human waste infects coral with something called white pox disease, which causes lesions and …

When I was in the fourth grade I took a lot of crap for not voting for Ty for class president, because he said he would give us double recess and free ice cream. I found those claims doubtful, and also Ty was kind of a dick, so I didn't vote for him, but everyone else did and they made fun of me. What I'm saying is, if you believe Michele Bachmann's claim that she can get gas back under $2 a gallon, then you should break out your Bieber tee and your juice box, because you are essentially an …