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Washington is lying to you about the cause of high gas prices

When it comes to the causes of high prices for gasoline, Washington is reaching truly epic levels of mendacity. Last Thursday, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) aimed to "set the record straight on America's oil" in a Washington Post op-ed that was completely jam-packed with BS. Murkowski, along with countless other congresscritters on both sides of […]

Dirty clouds: Greenpeace ranks tech giants on their data centers’ coal dependency

Tech companies have something hanging over their heads.Photo: The SharpteamAs I sit here at the Local 123 café in Berkeley on Earth Day, a dozen hipsters are transfixed by their Macbooks, their heads lost in the cloud. According to a Greenpeace report [PDF] released this week, all those presumably green and well-meaning digital workers-slash-slackers are […]

Nesting doll EV is an electric car with an electric trike inside

New cuteness rule: Anything that contains a smaller version of itself is adorable. Think about it: Kangaroos, koalas, Mandelbrot sets. (No? Adorable fractals? Nobody?) Ergo the McCar, from Chinese company Geely, is the cutest EV ever, because it's not just a sweet little full-electric or hybrid car. It also contains a tiny fold-up electric scooter, […]

How the bicycle economy can help us beat the energy crisis

This is the fifth column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. Libya. Bahrain. Iraq. Afghanistan. Canada. Fukushima. North Dakota. The Gulf Coast. Pennsylvania. Each of these stories stands alone as an urgent parable about our increasingly fragile reliance on affordable, plentiful energy. Take them together, and the myth of abundant fuel that our […]

Self-healing plastic lets gadgets take a licking and keep on ticking

Here’s a good way to cut down on waste: Stop breaking sh*t. To that end, scientists are working on self-healing materials that can extend the life of your belongings. One new polymer, developed by scientists in Switzerland, can heal deep scratches just by being exposed to ultraviolet light. It's like an immune system for your […]

Climate-change planning should include family planning

Women and their kids in Kunderpara, Bangladesh.The women of Kunderpara village are used to having water all around them. They live on an island in the middle of one of Bangladesh’s many large rivers. The women are even used to the occasional seasonal flood. But lately when the river floods, it takes on new, terrifying […]

We need a whole new kind of capitalism as we aim for sustainability

It’s time to have a broader vision.Photo: MorBCNToday we stand at the crossroads. In one direction lies business as usual, the road we’ve traveled for decades. Down that path, we’d forgo serious measures to rein in our oil consumption, we’d continue buying oil from the dwindling number of oil-rich nations to drive our SUVs a […]

No, ozone regulations were not easy

There’s a certain story you hear from the Breakthrough crowd these days. It goes like this: climate change is not like previous environmental problems. When it came to ozone depletion or acid rain, there were economically viable technologies available. That made it easier for policymakers to impose regulatory limits. Alternatives to fossil fuel energy are […]

Gary Taubes’ sugar article makes an excellent case for diversifying agriculture

In last week’s New York Times Magazine, the science writer Gary Taubes argues forcefully that a range of chronic health problems — heightened rates of obesity, heart disease, and even some forms of cancer — can be blamed on overconsumption of refined sweetener. It isn’t just the surge of empty calories that sweeteners provide that’s […]

Friday music blogging: Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Jason Isbell joined the Drive-By Truckers in 2001 to support them on their Southern Rock Opera tour; he left the band in 2007. In between, he worked with them on three albums that contain some of my all-time favorite songs. It’s a shame he left the band. I view this as a real Rogers/Gilmore, Plant/Page, […]