Latest Articles
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Ask Umbra at 10: Warm, weird anniversary wishes from our readers
As our beloved eco-advice columnist Umbra Fisk celebrates her 10th anniversary, an outpouring, nay, a veritable green tsunami of love letters rolls into the office. Rest assured that the feeling is mutual.
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Clean energy: Still a wedge issue that favors Democrats
In his interview with Rolling Stone, Obama suggests that Republican politicians are out of touch with Republican voters. Democrats could exploit that weakness on the issue of renewable energy.
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Why ‘passive activities’ may be clean energy’s biggest hurdle
Cross-posted from Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. If you care about the future of the American renewable energy industry, you need to learn what the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calls “passive activities.” Because these important rules mean that as long as the U.S. relies on the tax code to […]
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Stop the nuclear-industry welfare program
With our nation facing a $15 trillion national debt, it's time to end the extraordinary amount of corporate welfare going to the nuclear energy industry -- so say the independent senator from Vermont and the president of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
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Six Flags’ Magic Mountain caught polluting a California river
Most folks associate Six Flags’ Magic Mountain with water parks, games, and thrilling roller coasters. Turns out the amusement park produces more than just smiles and old fashioned family fun — a whole mess of water pollution. A coalition of local environmental groups recently accused Magic Mountain of spewing pollutants and trash into the Santa […]
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Will climate change kill off Washington state’s oysters?
After years of speculation and research on the impact of the increasingly acidic seawater in the Pacific Northwest, some farms have actually begun to lose oysters. Can the state of Washington adapt quickly enough to save them?
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Why is the Discovery Channel ignoring climate change science?
The Discovery Channel isn’t a climate change denier, but it’s certainly shaping up to be an equally formidable foe — a climate change avoider. Media outlets and activists are lambasting the network for failing to adequately address climate change in its recent series, Frozen Planet. The seven-part series, which was jointly produced with the BBC, […]
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4 out of 5 top transit cities are on the East Coast
Walk Score put together a list of the country’s top transit cities, based on the company’s transit scores for more 1 million locations in the largest 25 cities with open public transit data. (Lack of data meant Atlanta and Phoenix were left out.) And, surprisingly, four out of the top five are on the East […]
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Hungry bacteria help make bugs resistant to pesticides
Use pesticides on a field for long enough and the bugs that you’re supposed to be defeating will adapt. But you know what adapts faster than bugs? Bacteria. They can run through multiple generations in a day or so, and a new study shows that when bugs team up with a certain pesticide-loving bacteria, the […]
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On 26th anniversary, Chernobyl’s crumbling seal gets new cap
Today marks the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl explosion, the worst nuclear disaster the world has ever seen. Ukraine officials are gifting the nuclear site with an odd sort of birthday hat — a massive containment cap, or “Chernobyl sarcophagus.” An international drive has raised funds from governments towards building a new permanent covering to […]
