Latest Articles

Et tu, pistachios? How climate change will mess with trail mix

Pistachios: What shell remain? Photo: PatternedCross-posted from Cool Green Science. What won’t climate change affect? Well, cross trail mix and cherry pie off that ever-shrinking list. It turns out that crisp apples, chewy almonds, ripe plums, and a host of other nuts and stone fruits might become much more costly to grow — or not […]

Frog hunting at night in Arkansas, with some guys I met on YouTube [VIDEO]

Looking at that pair of legs, you just want to eat them.Photo: Barclay NixIn this week’s video, I joined some guys from Arkansas who I met on YouTube for a night of catching frogs. It was precarious. We showed up around 10 p.m. in a small town near Jonesboro, Ark. Better judgement may have suggested […]

Groups sue FDA to stop Big Ag antibiotic abuse — and it just might work

A growing weight of research links routine antibiotic use on factory farms to the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria — which are showing up in more and more places worldwide (including, according to recent studies, in your local supermarket). Doctor groups, from the American Medical Association to the American Society of Microbiology, have appealed to the […]

New vehicle labels take three steps forward, one step back

This post was written by Therese Langer, transportation program director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and a contributing author at the ACEEE blog. The new vehicle fuel economy label announced today by the EPA and the Department of Transportation (DOT) beats the current label, providing better information on fuel costs and adding […]

The House wants to slow the military’s clean energy march

Cross-posted from the Center for American Progress. The Department of Defense is the largest energy consumer in the nation. It has made significant efforts to wean the military services from their sole dependence on fossil fuels — particularly jet and diesel fuel made from oil — to power their planes, ships, and vehicles. Pollution from […]

Michigan to grid operator: We prefer to generate our own renewable energy

Michigan would rather pay a little more for energy if it’s better for the local economy.Photo: Alex GorzenThis post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. The large transmission authority serving the upper Midwest — the Midwest Independent System Operator — has plans for new high-voltage transmission […]

Norway plans billion-dollar clean energy fund for world’s poor

What is it about those hoar-frosted Scandinavians that makes them crazy ambitious when it comes to clean energy? First it was Denmark's promise to go 100 percent renewable; now their buddies in Norway want to launch a billion-dollar fund for building renewable energy in the developing world. Norway has already pledged more than $500 million […]

Distributed geothermal could supply 7 percent of California’s electricity

With the right policies in place, geothermal could play an active role in reaching California’s renewable energy goals.Small, geographically dispersed geothermal power plants could provide 7 percent of California’s electricity supply, according to an analysis of data collected by a consultant to the Golden State. California recently passed new legislation requiring the state to provide […]

House GOP pays for climate disaster relief by increasing climate pollution

Eric Cantor.Photo: Talk Radio News ServiceCross-posted from the Wonk Room. In a stunningly heartless move, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) put strings on emergency relief for the victims of the killer Joplin tornado, saying that other government services would have to be cut to offset aid spending. Yesterday afternoon, the House Appropriations Committee passed […]

Oil traders illegally inflated oil prices in 2008, commodity watchdog says

In 2008, two commodities traders conspired to drive up the price of oil, says the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The two traders, one of whom is named Nicholas Wildgoose, the other of whom is Australian, bought up two-thirds—4.6 million barrels—of the crude oil available in Cushing, Okla., the delivery hub that sets prices for American […]