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Centuries worth of CO2 emissions could be stored underground, but at what cost?
America's geologic basins might be able to hold 500 years worth of emissions, but it would be really tricky and pricey to make it happen.
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How hard is it to integrate renewables into the grid?
In January, EEI said [PDF] that the incentives paid to renewable energy are going to jeopardize grid reliability and electricity costs. Many enviros have responded that this represents nothing more than the utility industry’s naked self interest. Who’s right? I’d suggest neither. The true problem with the EEI report, as I pointed out here, is […]
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Americans are more worried about North Korean nukes than climate change
A survey found that Americans are less likely than other people around the world to be concerned about global warming. But we do fret about Islamic terrorists, Iran, and North Korea.
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How Europe can help Obama achieve US climate targets
As the global leader of climate action, European governments want to know how President Obama’s major climate speech affects Europe – and particularly whether the actions he outlined can allow the United States to reach its commitment to reduce emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels (or even exceed that level). The big picture: Obama’s […]
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The significance of Obama’s cryptic Keystone comments
The president's comments about the Keystone XL pipeline don't necessarily mean he'll reject (or approve) it. But they might reveal a radical way of thinking about infrastructure in an age of climate change.
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Heat-related disasters? There’s a map for that
Help us track the summer's extreme heat and weather incidents with this magical map we made in like a day.
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The coal industry’s desperate PR efforts: old, lame, and ineffective
Among the highlights of President Obama’s climate change speech was an explicit recognition that polluting industries and the members of Congress who do their bidding will oppose climate action with the same talking points they have used for decades to try and block clean air standards. Now, what you will hear from the special interests and […]
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Full Planet, Empty Plates: Chapter 5. Eroding Soils Darkening Our Future
By Lester R. Brown In 1938 Walter Lowdermilk, a senior official in the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, traveled abroad to look at lands that had been cultivated for thousands of years, seeking to learn how these older civilizations had coped with soil erosion. He found that some had managed their […]
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No, fast food isn’t actually good for you: In defense of Pollanites
A new article in The Atlantic argues healthy eaters and Pollanites should embrace fast food so the industry will reform itself. What's wrong with this argument?
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President Unveils “Obama Climate Pollution Test” for Future Energy Projects
Today, in his speech at Georgetown University, President Obama challenged us to answer the essential question for every future energy policy decision we face – what will the net climate impact be if this project goes forward? It was a bold, monumental speech, the best by not only this president, but any president to date […]