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Critical List: Bike to work today; Amazon deforestation rate rose this year

It's Bike to Work day. Now all you bike commuters know how secretaries feel on Administrative Professionals Day: “One DAY? I’ve been doing this day in and day out all year!” The rate of Amazon deforestation has been declining in recent years; this year, it climbed again. The Brazilian government is — rightly — freaking […]

Not just the facts, ma’am: Why science alone can’t defeat Big Food’s policy stranglehold

Put ’em up, Pepsi.Food-reform advocates like to stick to the facts, believing that if they can just construct a rational, air-tight argument, they’ll convince the public and transform policy around food. But that’s a bit like bringing a butter knife to a sword fight. As Robert K. Ross, president and CEO of the California Endowment, […]

Never too old to bike to work [VIDEO]

So, Friday is Bike to Work Day. And if you are one of those people who comes up with endless excuses about why you can’t get your ass onto a bicycle and use it to go somewhere, you need to meet Lucette Gilbert, the latest star in Streetfilms‘ series on New Yorkers who ride. Gilbert […]

Dem Disease claims another victim

Beware Dem Disease.Joseph Aldy worked for a while as a top energy aide in Obama’s White House. Apparently, while he was there he caught Dem Disease. Dem Disease is an affliction that causes sufferers to prioritize being viewed as reasonable over securing reasonable policy. The primary symptom is a Tourette’s-like inability to keep from revealing […]

Cash incentives for renewables are twice as effective as tax credits

This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Using the tax code rather than cash incentives to support wind and solar power costs ratepayers significantly more. I wrote about this problem last year because project developers were selling their federal tax credits to third […]

Coal fades as clean energy rises

Roger Singer loved the recent good energy news out of Colorado. “We’re now seeing further on-the-ground evidence that a swift conversion by energy providers from dirty coal to increased levels of clean, renewable energy sources is not only possible, but it’s also easier than expected and it’s cost effective,” said Singer, regional representative for the […]

By 2015, we could see a new generation of photovoltaic technologies, including 3-D solar cells

Image: Solar3DCross-posted from Climate Progress. Solar photovoltaics (PV) is one of the hottest high-tech areas around. For instance, 3-D technology is all the rage these days. Now, one company thinks it can bring the concept to solar too. Santa Barbara-based Solar3D is working on a silicon “microcell” at the nano scale that uses an optical […]

Cost of adding tons of renewables to U.S. electric grid has been almost zero, say studies

Many states have "renewable portfolio standards" mandating that they produce a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable sources. Libertarian and tea bag-ish critics of these standards have said that they will cause electricity rates to "skyrocket." But the numbers are in, and guess what? Science says the critics are wrong. Utility companies’ experiences vary […]

Sexiest LED lightbulb ever is first true alternative to incandescents

The true successors to incandescent lightbulbs aren't CFLs, but LEDs, which are a totally different technology that, to date, has been a tad too expensive for most consumer. (Think $40 to $50 a bulb.) Switch LED aims to change that, with a bulb technology that's different in a handful of key ways. First, the bulbs […]

Making power lines beautiful with the help of a giant reindeer

Here's the down side of increased renewables: It means an increase in unsightly overhead power lines. And if you can't put them underground (which isn't always feasible), the answer might lie in turning an eyesore into a triumph of design. Germany is abandoning nuclear and embarking on a big renewables push, but to make it […]