Latest Articles

The small-c conservatism of U.S. power companies

The U.S. power sector is biased in favor of the familiar. It's not well-suited to producing the risk-taking and innovation we need in clean electricity

The Pope is getting a hybrid car

The next popemobile will be a hybrid -- not just a hybrid between a pick-up truck and a dunking booth, like usual, but a gas/electric hybrid car that can go around 16 miles in all-electric mode. 

Small nuclear reactors get their first customer, but are no panacea

Small nuclear reactors are the mobile homes of the the nuclear power universe -- they can be built in factories rather than on-site, then shipped to their destination and hooked up to the local power grid without any expensive upgrades to transmission infrastructure.

Sea level rose faster in past century than during previous 2,000 years

Scientists have just released evidence that confirms what they already suspected: Sea level has been rising faster over the past century than during the previous 2,000 years, and it's definitely down to warming associated with climate change.

First-graders and Big Ag agree: More chocolate milk!

D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown says he's in possession of "research" conducted by a first-grade pupil that convinces him schools in the nation's capital should bring back chocolate milk.

In London, bike commuters now the majority in some places

Cyclists make up more than 50 percent of the traffic on some busy London commuter routes. But as in New York, two-wheeled travelers still have an image problem to overcome.

Rick Perry signs weirdly reasonable fracking disclosure law

Rick Perry must have a secret plan to recapture George W. Bush's long-squandered image as an aisle-crossing Texas governor and run for president to the left of the Tea Party-addled Republican field. Or maybe he just decided to something right for a change. Whatever his motivation, the Texas guv signed into law a bill that requires natural gas drillers to disclose the chemicals they're pumping into ground during hydrofracking.

Sexually frustrated dolphins go on murderous rampage

A major threat to the world's porpoises comes from an unexpected quarter: Dolphins who aren't getting any.

Ed Glaeser: Locally grown produce can shove it

Ed Glaeser, everyone's favorite urban economist, loves density and (he says) local, seasonal oysters. But he also says that, as a rule, locally grown produce can shove it, because in all cases density > any other public policy goal.

Glaeser argues that urban farms will lead to less dense cities, which will increase the world's carbon emissions. Here's his math:

Some in the US need to stop opposing the EU program to control carbon pollution from aviation

On Wednesday June 22, the US and European Union (EU) officials will meet in Oslo, Norway for a bilateral on aviation issues.  As a part of this meeting they will discuss the EU Aviation Directive – the only program in the world to regulate the carbon pollution from airplanes.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting […]