Latest Articles

No vacancy: Empty lots are full of promise

Vacant lots are the scourge of cities around the world, but they offer acres of unfulfilled potential for urban renewal.

Why the meat industry sells salmonella

Last week, the latest massive food safety recall hit the news -- 36 million pounds of ground turkey possibly tainted with salmonella, courtesy of meat giant Cargill. Some media outlets reported that it's currently legal to sell salmonella-tainted meat. While the meat industry might like it that way, that's not the entire story.

Utilities cash in when you go solar

Net metering offers a lot to utilities and very little to ratepayers and solar array owners.

Getting more voices into the climate game, starting with Steven Chu

It's easy to overthink the problem of climate skepticism. One answer is sending signals that trusted people and institutions are in agreement on the issue.

How cities can get carbon down to zero

Seattle looks at an ambitious scenario involving changes in travel modes, more energy-efficient buildings, and shifts to alternative energy sources.

Rick Perry prays for an end to drought and EPA regulations

The rain prayers haven't worked yet -- maybe the Texas governor's prayers against the EPA won't, either.

Heated debate: public opinion on climate and weather

Polls show that most Americans think we should be addressing the problem of climate change somehow, regardless of whether they believe it's man-made.

Seeing cities as the environmental solution, not the problem

The best way to save wilderness is through strong, compact, beautiful communities that are more urban and do not encroach on places of natural value.

Long Island lobster catch dwindling to nothing

It really sucks to be a lobster fisherperson working in the Long Island Sound. Twelve years ago, 90 percent of the lobsters died off because of pesticides or climate change or both. The ones still there have weird-looking shells, a result of bacteria colonizing the sounds, that keep people from wanting to eat them. Things are so bad some of the lobstermen don't even bother fishing for lobster anymore, says the New York Times:

What wind turbines can learn from fish

Wind turbines are loners. They need to give each other space to be effective. But a new design for wind farms, using a different type of turbines than the giant-fan kind going up all over the place, takes a page from a very social group of animals -- schooling fish -- to create the same amount of energy with shorter turbines, in a smaller area of land.

These wind farms use vertical-axis turbines, which are often described as looking like egg-beaters.