Latest Articles

Green lifestyle choices won’t solve the climate problem

Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan, aka the Greenie Pig, is feeling guilty about her plane trip to a friend’s wedding and decided to try to make up for it by rolling her own carbon offsets — that is, skimping on car travel and other energy use to make up for all that jet fuel she helped burn. While […]

Michael Pollan and Maira Kalman on Food Rules [VIDEO]

The latest, expanded edition of Michael Pollan’s book Food Rules has been brought to life by the illustrations of artist Maira Kalman. Pollan told Sarah Henry in a recent interview: I wanted to work on a more visual version of Food Rules to reach more people and continue the conversation that the first edition started. My wife and […]

Wind could provide at least 25 percent of electricity for most states

At least 32 states could get 25 percent or more of their electricity from wind power generated within their own borders. This is an updated version of a map included in the report “Energy Self-Reliant States” from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Click on the map to see a larger version. State wind power potential […]

Debunking common energy efficiency myths

Time to shatter some common myths about energy efficiency.Photo: Sergio AlvarezThis post was written by Sara Hayes, senior researcher at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and a contributing author at the ACEEE blog. Energy efficiency can be difficult to conceptualize — there’s not a representative device like a solar panel or wind turbine. […]

Ring around the White House: Scenes from the Keystone protest [VIDEO]

Thousands of protesters encircled the White House Sunday, calling on President Obama to block the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline that would run from the tar sands of Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Watch video of the protest:

Krugman: Only politics can delay energy transformation

Cross-posted from Climate Progress. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman had another good column in The New York Times yesterday, “Here Comes the Sun.” He makes three key points. First, solar is rapidly coming down the cost curve — I’ve sprinkled a couple of the Climate Progress charts on this throughout this post. Second, fracking is […]

Walmart by the numbers: Green vs. growth

Walmart’s six-year-old sustainability campaign has helped improve its public image, enabling the company to grow bigger and faster. That growth, ironically, has dramatically increased the retailer’s environmental footprint, and hurt local economies and the U.S. job market along the way.

Public support for clean energy isn’t enough; passion and money win in politics

  Stephen Lacey flags a poll that shows that the public feels positively about clean energy and, if given the choice, would prefer to pursue clean energy over fossil fuels. Similar positive results have been found, again and again and again, in polling about air pollution rules and the EPA. These results are notable and […]

Inspector general will investigate Keystone XL

According to a memo posted by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the State Department's inspector general will conduct an investigation into the Keystone XL permitting process. Fourteen members of Congress requested an audit two weeks ago, citing irregularities in the environmental review for the pipeline.  Just to recap: At TransCanada's suggestion, the State Department hired environmental […]

Is post-Jobs Apple going to stop poisoning China?

While Steve Jobs was head of Apple, the company was one of "America's least philanthropic companies," lacking even a basic corporate charitable arm. Apple also often seemed reluctant to green its operations. But under new CEO Tim Cook, that might be about to change. In the meantime, many of Apple's suppliers are still poisoning the […]