Latest Articles

Critical List: Sarah Palin’s emails on oil; Firefighters gaining ground on wildfire

Sarah Palin's emails show that even in private that she's not Big Oil's best buddy. In Arizona, the population of two towns was allowed to return home, and firefighters said they were more confident about containing the fire. Obama is visiting an LED manufacturer before convening his jobs council today; NPR asks if investing in […]

The great unwashed: Ask Umbra on twice-weekly showers

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, My two sons, age 12, shower twice a week, with prompting. I told them most Americans shower daily, and one of them stated flatly, “That’s crazy. It’s wasteful.” Now, I am all for saving water, but I told them it depends on the situation. What is your […]

Electric Car Purchase Update

Just got an email from Nissan:   Hi Russ, congratulations! Your vehicle is scheduled to arrive at your Nissan Dealer in the month of September 2011.   As your Nissan LEAFTM is being built and shipped, we will continue to update your vehicle’s status. So make sure to sign in to “my account” to stay […]

Death threats for Australian climate scientists

Australian climate scientists are paying a steep price for their work, as opponents of Australia’s proposed tax on carbon emissions have embraced an attack the messenger strategy. More than 30 researchers told the Canberra Times that they have received emails “threatening violence, sexual assault, public smear campaigns and attacks on family members.” In response, several […]

The most powerful climate video you’ll see all week

Bill McKibben published a must-read op-ed in The Washington Post last month about the connection between climate change and recent extreme weather events. Now Stephen Thomson has combined McKibben’s words with striking footage of the events he writes about. The result is a chilling must-see video:

Canada’s step away from the Kyoto Protocol can be a constructive step forward

Canada confirmed Friday that it will not take on a target under an extension of the Kyoto Protocol following the completion of the first commitment period, 2008-2012. Given that Canada is likely to miss by a wide margin its current target under the first commitment period, this decision may not be surprising, but it is […]

Labor and enviros join up in W.Va. to fight mountaintop coal mining

For the first time in years, mining unions are finding common cause with advocates who are seeking to end mountaintop-removal coal mining.

Cheap food: Not what’s for dinner anymore?

Cheap food might go the way of cheap gas.Photo: Eddie SCross-posted from Mother Jones. Remember when gas was a dollar a gallon? The era of the fast-food “dollar menu” may be going the same way. Cheap food has been with us for a while. After World War II, global grain prices fell steadily for decades. […]

Marching to Protect a Landmark in American Labor History – Blair Mountain

Watching this week’s massive march on Blair Mountain has been inspiring. More than 300 people (and that number’s been growing each day) are walking the roughly 60 miles from Marmet, West Virginia, to Blair Mountain in Logan, West Virginia, to call for the end of mountaintop removal coal mining and the protection of this historic […]

Do we have a moral obligation to stop screwing up the planet?

Barack Obama, Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, and Ursula K. Le Guin walk into a bar book … No, it’s not a joke; it’s an ambitious project that aims to make a rock-solid moral case for environmental action. It started with the print book Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril […]