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New York's one-inch escape from Irene

New York City dodged a bullet with Irene, but big trouble passed more closely than most people think.

Daryl Hannah gives you her [lawyer's] number

Here's Daryl Hannah preparing to be arrested at the Keystone XL protests -- she's writing a contact number, probably for her lawyer, on her arm so she doesn't forget it. And that's a nice hand-lettered sign! Hannah was arrested today outside the White House gates, and I originally was going to lead with that video and title the post "Daryl Hannah in handcuffs" but then I felt dirty about it.

Close coal: D.C.-area coal-fired power plant to close

Just a month after Michael Bloomberg used it as a backdrop for his $50 million donation to the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, officials in Alexandria, Va., announced a plan to shut down the plant.

Teaching kids to love nature and buy less stuff

Kids are getting the sort of education that guarantees they'll soon be fighting each other, Hunger Games-style, for Earth's dwindling resources. The solution is to cram everyone in America into Berkeley, California, say the authors of the new book The Failure of Environmental Education. (I'm paraphrasing.)

Why do green jobs pay better than other jobs?

Less-educated workers with green jobs get higher wages than their peers with other low-skill jobs. Could it be because more green jobs are union jobs?

China to build 50+ nuclear reactors based on unsafe 60's tech, says Wikileaks

"China is currently in the process of building as many as 50 to 60 new nuclear plants by 2020; the vast majority will be the CPR-1000, a copy of 60's era Westinghouse technology that can be built cheaply and quickly and with the majority of parts sourced from Chinese manufacturers," says this cable from the U.S. embassy in Beijing.

Fox News viewers 'confused' by Bill Nye, science in general

Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

You'd think Fox News would already be mildly embarrassed by the fact that their outside consultant on science is the host of a children's program. ("And now, to discuss transportation infrastructure, Mr. Rogers!") But what's even more embarrassing is the fact that they can't understand a word he's saying, and they readily admit it.

Wind power breakthrough: Carbon nanotubes make strongest, lightest blades ever

Bigger wind turbines can harvest more wind energy, but they're also heavier, which makes them less efficient. But a scientist at Case Western Reserve University figures he can solve this fundamental dilemma by throwing carbon nanotubes at it.  

Breaking: Major victory — deal reached to retire old, dirty Potomac River Coal Plant

Only a few short weeks ago, I stood on a boat in front of the ancient, dirty, and deadly GenOn coal plant in Alexandria, Virginia, and introduced Michael R. Bloomberg, philanthropist and Mayor of New York City, who then announced a game-changing gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies to the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. Today, major […]

Stranded penguin is going home

Here's your awesome for the day. A penguin named Happy Feet washed up on a New Zealand beach in June, and promptly made himself sick by eating a bunch of sand that he mistook for snow. It's not clear how he wound up 2,000 miles from his Antarctic habitat, but Happy Feet is now well and is getting a lift back home.