Latest Articles

Saudi Arabia scrambling to get off own oil, build 5 gigawatts of solar power by 2020

What do you do when you're basically a giant welfare state whose stability depends on keeping the money tap open, yet your population is set to double and your electricity consumption to triple by 2032? If you're Saudi Arabia, the answer is build renewable energy as fast as you can. The first volley is a […]

Is climate change causing the Mississippi flood?

Mother Jones has posted everything you might want to know about the record flooding along the Mississippi, including the big question: Is this destruction just the ravages of an angry Nature, or is it the ravages of an angry Nature that's pissed about climate change in particular? The answer to "did climate change cause this?" […]

Not just better for bikes: New York completes its streets [VIDEO]

Something has been lost in the recent kerfuffle over bike lanes in New York City. The rethinking and redesign of the city’s streets is not just about bikes (and it is not a terrorist plot). It’s about what is known in the land of urban wonkery as “complete streets,” and it is a concept that […]

Oyster sex to the rescue

Centuries ago, the Chesapeake Bay was filled with oyster reefs so large they sank ships. Today, in search of a cleaner bay, Maryland is looking to revitalize its once-booming oyster population. But to do that, the state needs oysters — lots of 'em — and to get oysters, the state needs scientists at the University […]

Critical List: Fracking connected to flammable tap water; eco-friendly paintballs

Remember those people with flammable tap water? Yup, hydrofracking is responsible, according to Duke University scientists. Chile wants to dam two incredible rivers, despite opposition from both locals and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. A judge in Utah shut down Koch Industries' search for the clever people who sent out a fake press release claiming the […]

In Texas, Obama faces test on border-wall promise

President Obama speaks today about immigration in El Paso, Texas, along the U.S. border with Mexico. Although the subject is immigration, the backdrop will be purely environmental: the 640 mile long border wall with Mexico. The wall has done nothing to reduce illegal immigration, but it has had enormous negative effects on the extraordinary wildlife […]

A conversation with Bill Gates on climate and clean energy [VIDEO]

This morning, Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, talked with Climate Solutions Board Co-chair Jabe Blumenthal about climate change and innovations in clean energy. Watch the video here and read the transcript below — or just catch the highlights. Watch the video Afterward, KC Golden of Climate Solutions […]

Jack in the Box surprise: How E. coli became a household word

Double your trouble.Photo: theimpulsivebuyFor most of us working in food policy, it’s hard to remember a time when food outbreaks of bugs like E. coli didn’t happen pretty much weekly. But reading the new book Poisoned by Jeff Benedict made me realize that bacteria-contaminated hamburgers are a relatively recent phenomenon. It’s a striking reminder of […]

Want local communities to support wind? Put them in charge

Let’s turn NIMBYs into YIMBYs.Photo: Eddie CodelThis post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Last month, Grist’s Jess Zimmerman noted sarcastically that “Money is a miracle cure for ‘wind turbine syndrome.'” It is. And environmental advocates frustrated by the (spurious?) health and aesthetic complaints raised […]

New study: How to get your kids to become environmentalists

LEAF participants enjoy an afternoon at the beach after a morning of work at the Conservancy’s Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge in the Delaware Bayshores region.Photo: Erika Nortemann/TNCCross-posted from Cool Green Science. Want your kids to become ecologically conscious as adults? Get ’em into nature now — that’s the most reliable way to build their […]