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Critical List: McKibben's march on Washington; speeding up permits for offshore drilling

Bill McKibben invites you to come to D.C. in August and march on the White House over and over and over again. The goal is to convince the administration that siphoning Canada's tar sands through the Keystone XL pipelines is not a good idea and also to get heat stroke.

Transocean issued a report blaming BP for the Macondo spill. A Norwegian prosecutor issued a report blaming Transocean for $1.8 billion in tax evasion.

House Republicans don't care who was to blame for the Macondo spill; they just want the EPA to approve permits for offshore drilling more quickly. Bored with this spill! Let’s start on a new one!

Which cities can best adapt to climate change?

Here are the most resilient -- and most vulnerable -- cities to climate change.

Join us in civil disobedience to stop the Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline

We want you to come to Washington in the hottest and stickiest weeks of the summer and engage in civil disobedience that will likely get you arrested.

Me, on Seattle public radio, talking cities and climate

On KUOW's "The Conversation," David Roberts talks about the grim prospects for national or international climate policy and the rays of hope coming from cities.

Right-wingers bash Gore for wanting women to have access to birth control

The right-wing media is all aflutter over Al Gore saying that we should educate girls, keep kids from dying, and make birth control available to women.

What ever happened to the party of national security?

This OnEarth column was written by George Black. I don’t spend a lot of time listening to Rush Limbaugh. But driving through Wyoming recently, I chanced upon his distinctive cadences on my car radio. I couldn’t find a reliable signal for NPR, I don’t like Mötley Crüe, and I was getting tired of listening to […]

Solar-powered laptop lets you play outside while you work

What's the best way to piss off a computer scientist? Buy her a laptop that only works when it gets enough sun. It's the perfect gag gift for the basement-dwelling, vitamin D-deprived coder in your life.

How utilities make money while investing in cleaner generation

Calling the EPA's mercury reforms "anti-business" is good for exciting a political base during the campaign season, but it doesn't match reality.

Is China trying to steal this city?

China seems to be turning its countryside into a sort of Baudrillardian Euro-Epcot -- they've got two replica English villages, a mini-Barcelona and mini-Venice, a Scandiavia-esque "Nordic Town," and a German district in the city of Anting. Now they're planning to add a replica of the Austrian village of Hallstatt, and the original Hallstatt is pretty pissed.

Interactive climate change maps show just how screwed we are

The Climate Hot Map, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, notes climate trouble spots worldwide. These are by no means all the effects of global warming -- for instance, we're guessing that Canada is not in fact a charmed oasis, untouched by climate change outside of one river in the Northwest Territories. But it does give you a sense of just how widespread the crisis is. (And maybe they'll keep updating it until it's just a mass of flags.)