Latest Articles
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Jon Huntsman’s energy plan shoots blanks
Jon Huntsman.Photo: Gage SkidmoreCross-posted from Climate Progress. Presidential candidate, former ambassador to China, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman received attention for his willingness to accept scientists’ verdict that carbon dioxide and other pollutants generated by humans are responsible for climate change. While 98 of 100 climate scientists agree that global warming is real, he […]
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Learning from history: Why natural gas prices will rise
Here’s the standard story about the U.S. power grid: It gets baseload supply from hydro, nuclear, and coal (in that order), using natural gas (and the occasional oil plant) as a swing producer to meet peak demands. Renewables play on the margin, but are neither big nor reliable enough to matter from a grid planning […]
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Germany’s nuclear phaseout was the right thing to do
Photo: Dan ZelazoEver since Germany shut down eight of its nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, nuclear proponents have raged against the decision. Their claim: This cannot possibly be good for the German economy, its energy security, or the climate. The latest example of this rage is a piece in The […]
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Food Studies: College students plant seeds of change
Food Studies features the voices of volunteer student bloggers from a variety of different food- and agriculture-related programs at universities around the world. You can explore the full series here. Photo: Anna ZeideIf you’ve ever visited the University of Wisconsin, you’ve probably eaten some Babcock ice cream, perhaps while enjoying a sunset on the Terrace. […]
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U.S. carbon emissions down as renewable energy keeps growing
Cross-posted from Earth Policy Institute. Between 2007 and 2011, carbon emissions from coal use in the United States dropped 10 percent. During the same period, emissions from oil use dropped 11 percent. In contrast, carbon emissions from natural gas use increased by 6 percent. The net effect of these trends was that U.S. carbon emissions […]
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He-said, she-punched-him-in-the-face: The imbalance of American party politics
There are aspects of contemporary U.S. politics that mainstream pundits and analysts have trouble facing squarely. One of them is the radicalism of today’s Republican Party, not only in terms of policy but at a deeper level, the level of personality and worldview. There’s a two-part story to tell about this. The first part has […]
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Koch-funded group complains about ‘political favors’ in new ad. LOL.
Americans for Prosperity has a lot of very concrete ideas about what happened with the Solyndra loan and the company's collapse. None of those ideas are backed by evidence, since the investigation isn't complete, but let's pass lightly over that. The real hilarity here comes from the fact that Americans for Prosperity — a group backed […]
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Why prison inmates make great conservationists
Kelli Bush, project manager for Washington state’s Sustainable Prisons Project, works with an unlikely group of conservationists: prison inmates. In collaboration with scientists, students, community groups, and prison staff, inmates at four Washington correctional facilities play an integral part in habitat and species restoration efforts. They raise Oregon spotted frogs (endangered in Washington), Taylor’s checkerspot […]
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Interactive graphic shows just how few resources are left
Scientific American has put together an interactive feature where you can watch resources disappear before your very eyes. The dates for when things will "run out" are a little fuzzy — they've got animals pretty much running out five minutes from now, even though they're endangered but not extinct. But there are informative videos, and […]
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Maude’s Market: Spreading local food in Monsanto country
Maude Bauschard, outside her local food market in St. Louis. Maude Bauschard sells local and sustainably produced groceries and runs a weekly community-supported agriculture (CSA) box from a small store she calls Maude’s Market. This wouldn’t sound like much if she were living in a city on one of the coasts, but Bauschard lives in […]
