Latest Articles

A visual representation of renewable energy growth in the U.S.

The folks over at Black & Veatch sent me a couple of interesting graphics today. Here is a U.S. map showing installations of non-hydro renewable energy in 1970: Click for larger version.Black & Veatch A few things jump out. One, there weren’t very many! Two, they weren’t very big. And three, they were all biomass. […]

Durban dispatch: Climate-talks failure is ‘moral apartheid’

The march on Saturday. Photo: Oxfam InternationalCross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. As the first week of climate negotiations drew to a close, Saturday saw people from across Africa and beyond march through the streets of Durban to demand progress on a fair, ambitious, and legally binding global climate deal. Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga […]

Curbing Power Plant Carbon Pollution

This item cross-posted from NRDC’s Switchboard. Willie Sutton is famously supposed to have said that he robbed banks because that’s where the money is (apparently this quote is apocryphal but it’s just too good to not keep using it). I have focused a number of recent posts on power plants because that’s where the carbon […]

Principled plate: Diners’ Guide helps make eating out ethical

Photo: Bravo123Restaurants know their customers worry over the source of an heirloom tomato, or the care with which their pork was raised and handled. But when it comes to the treatment of the person who prepared it, few establishments make it a point to be transparent.  Now, there’s a guide for that. For the first […]

The age of thirst in the American West

This essay was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom’s kind permission. Consider it a taste of the future: the fire, smoke, drought, dust, and heat that have made life unpleasant, if not dangerous, from Louisiana to Los Angeles. New records tell the tale: biggest wildfire ever recorded in Arizona (538,049 acres); […]

The brutal logic of climate change

The consensus in American politics today is that there’s nothing to be gained from talking about climate change. It’s divisive, the electorate has more pressing concerns, and very little can be accomplished anyway. In response to this evolving consensus, lots of folks in the climate hawk coalition (broadly speaking) have counseled a new approach that […]

Cartoon penguins: Biggest threat to children since SpongeBob

I'm sorry, I will never get sick of right-wing wig-flipping over children's entertainment. Apparently anything but VeggieTales is Marxist indoctrination to some people — and what with Big Government pushing healthy eating, it's not long before a wholesome Christian message isn't enough to keep talking vegetables conservative-friendly.  You'll remember, of course, the "Fox & Friends" […]

The Onion warns that global warming could be irreversible within negative five years

If you've ever felt confused about the definition of "lolsob," read this Onion headline: "Report: Global Warming May Be Irreversible By 2006." Oy. The Onion has been on a roll lately of just reporting the news straight and letting it satirize itself (see also: "Rumors Of Extramarital Affair End Campaign Of Presidential Candidate Who Didn't […]

This is what Antarctica looks like naked

Scientists have made a detailed map of Antarctica's rock bed — what the land looks like underneath the ice — as part of their attempt to predict how the continent might respond to global warming. Figuring out what will happen when Antarctic ice melts requires an understanding of what's going on down below: Scientists are […]

What record emissions growth really shows us

2010 saw the single biggest jump in carbon emissions ever. It's like we're addicted to perpetrating the most heinous crimes possible on our own children, and we can't stop! What's up with that? It's easy to blame countries like China, which is now the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet, what with its […]