Latest Articles

Breaking: California to vote on BPA ban today

If I find out there’s BPA in this bottle, I’m going to throw a tantrum like you’ve never seen before.The California State Assembly today will vote soon on a bill to protect our most vulnerable residents — babies and toddlers — from Bisphenol-A (BPA), a harmful chemical in their food and drink containers. Assembly Bill […]

Forget rice, think meat and yogurt: ‘Chinese food’ looking more and more like Western diet

Meating demand: Workers at an industrial meatpacking house in China try to keep up with their nation’s soaring appetite for animal products.Photo: Shreyans BhansaliIt’s Monday, which for many is now a meatless day, so it’s appropriate I think to highlight Howard Schneider’s Washington Post article on the long-anticipated Chinese meat-eating explosion: For China, the world’s […]

Two percent of U.S. energy goes to wasted food

The U.S. wastes a stunning amount of food — 40 percent of what we produce, according to Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland. That’s way above the already-staggering global average of one third. That means that 40 percent of the energy, water, and fuel we put into farming goes straight into the trash. All in […]

Speak Out For Mercury Safeguards at EPA's Hearings

This is a big week for public input for the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed safeguards against mercury and other air toxics spewed out by coal-fired power plants. EPA is holding three public hearings – two on Tuesday (in Chicago and Philly) and one on Thursday (Atlanta) – so people like you and me can make […]

Cities as software, and hacking the urban landscape

What if saving a rundown city wasn’t about building expensive new infrastructure — hardware, so to speak — but instead reprogramming the existing infrastructure? Changing the software of the place? That’s the analogy used by Marcus Westbury, founder of Renew Newcastle, an innovative initiative that has breathed life into the vacant downtown of that Australian […]

Hasta la vista, Arnie: Can the climate movement afford to lose Arnold Schwarzenegger?

He’s a colossal jerk, but do we still need him?Photo: Steve JurvetsonThe most prominent Republican voice for climate action is now in the (hound)doghouse. Turns out the Sperminator has been pumping more than iron. If you’re as revolted as I am, you might be tempted to toss the bum permanently overboard — but can we […]

Get ready for solar airplanes

There’s nothing that exciting about a plane that uses no fuel and emits no CO2 — I’ve been folding those since the fourth grade. A plane that uses no fuel, emits no CO2, has the same wingspan as an Airbus A340, and can transport people on international flights, though: That’s a big deal. And that’s […]

Why the environmental justice lawsuit against California’s climate law is misguided

Environmental justice is a noble cause, but the lawsuit against AB 32 is misguided.On May 20, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith ruled that the California Air Resources Board had not adequately explained its choice of a market-based mechanism — a cap-and-trade system — to achieve approximately 20 percent of targeted emissions reductions by […]

How the Feds saved enough water for a whole city with just a little bit of cash

The Department of the Interior's WaterSMART program will save enough water for a smallish city — 400,000 people — yet it cost only $24 million. As Tina Casey reports at CleanTechnica, the program works by going for the low-hanging fruit: 54 separate programs that address everything from farm irrigation to water distribution infrastructure. At $60 […]

The coming decline of accurate hurricane forecasts

NOAA put out this summer's hurricane forecast late last week, and it looks like it's going to be another doozy of a storm season. And that’s probably all we’re going to get in terms of forecasting. NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco took the opportunity to point out that, in the last round of budget cuts, Congress […]