Latest Articles

This is going to be the greatest documentary on the Arctic and Antarctic EVER

This month the BBC is debuting Frozen Planet, a Planet Earth-style nature doc that focuses on the Arctic and Antarctic. This is going to be massive, gorgeous, and probably depressing: The last of its seven episodes is all about the effect of climate change on the stunning vistas and incredible animals you've met in the […]

Fake scalp, fake scandal: DOE official didn't resign ‘over Solyndra’

Politico blasted out this headline: "Silver resigns over Solyndra loan." Scandal! An administration in crisis! Dems in disarray! But it was fiction.

A day in the life of John Q. Public and his electric car

Kevin Day is just some dude who bought a Nissan Leaf and is kinda in love with it. Even with a daily 30-mile commute, he only has to charge it once every three days; he appreciates its fast pickup and ultra-quiet ride; and it saves him about $100 a month in gas. (As one commenter […]

Surprise! Europe's climate policy is working

According to figures released today as part of the European Commission's annual report on its progress to meeting its Kyoto targets, E.U. greenhouse-gas emissions for 2010 were 15.5 percent below 1990 levels despite economic growth of 41 percent over the same period.

The Occupy Movement, winning victories and November 6

I haven’t felt like this since Seattle and the birth of the global justice movement in the USA 12 years ago.  Because of the Occupy Wall Street action and the astounding growth of similar local occupy actions all over the country, the political winds have changed in the USA, all within less than a month. […]

Climate change is the reason kids don't go outside anymore

Only one in 10 kids goes outside every day. It's hard to see how this is possible, unless the other 90 percent are Morlocks, but maybe shuttling between the front door and the air-conditioned interior of mom and dad's SUV doesn't count.

U.S. is freaking out over tiny E.U. carbon tax on air travel

Long ago, in a land far, far away, where it seemed possible that carbon cap-and-trade would be a thing that we all got on board with, the European Union decided it would make sense to include air travel in its carbon trading scheme, because flying on planes is one of the most carbon-intensive activities that humans engage in. But — psych! — turned out no one (*cough* Congress *cough*) really wanted to deal with carbon. The E.U., however, did not get that memo and still wants to charge American airlines for the carbon they emit on their way to Europe. Here's how that's playing out so far:

The U.S. airline industry: NO FAIR! We'll see you in court, suckers!

The European Union: Um, ok, well, they're our courts. 

State Department picked less-than-objective company to review Keystone XL impact

Sometimes you wish government bureaucrats would just stop and think. It's been clear for a while now that the State Department favors the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. But one would think that they'd like to at least preserve the appearance that they were conducting a thorough and unbiased review of the pipeline’s environmental impacts.

Apparently that wasn't a particular concern, because the department allowed TransCanada, the pipeline operator, to participate in the selection of the company conducting the environmental review. Perhaps less than surprisingly, Transcanada recommended Cardno Entrix, which considers TransCanada a "major client," to do the job.

Critical List: Spilt oil tars New Zealand shores; climate change is a top issue for Europeans

Oil has reached New Zealand beaches, after an oil tanker ran into a reef last week. The tanker was carrying 1,700 tons of oil and 200 tons of diesel.

All these attacks on obscure regulations about boilers and concrete might seem boring, but in reality, they're part of a campaign that could destroy decades of environmental progress.

Europeans think that climate change is one of the top two issues facing the globe. (Although the No. 1 concern was a sort of Voltronesque mega-problem: poverty, hunger, and lack of drinking water.)

Rick Perry used to be against ethanol, but now he's in Iowa, so … he's not sure what he thinks.

Food Studies: future terroir

What can the taste of place mean in a country only three and half times bigger than Washington D.C.?