Latest Articles

Low-fat ice cream, celery more or less the same food

Yes, that Mexican-flavored shredded cheese mix, found right next to the Kraft singles, makes awesome quesadillas. But little strands of cheese curds are not meant to remain so sedately separate from each other, even as they are tossed into plastic bags and shipped across the country. So how do big food companies keep shredded cheese […]

How humans are forcing other species to evolve

Presumably everybody knows the basic depressing mechanisms of natural selection: In response to a cruel and unforgiving environment, those creatures that can adapt best or are already best-suited survive to reproduce, and everyone else dies horribly. It's all red-in-tooth-and-claw-y, and humans are well out of it, right? Yeah, well, about that: Turns out that now […]

Barking up the wrong tree: Ask Umbra on printing emails

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Can you bring some balance and common sense to the Wall Street Journal‘s aw-shucks oversimplification of the issue of to print or not to print emails? I learned about it from a few colleagues’ change in email signatures, encouraging people to print their emails to promote a […]

New Jersey to throw more money at long-stalled megamall

Stately pleasure dome or boondoggle? Xanadu gets a new name, and a new chunk of state money.Photo: Pro PublicaNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been quite literally making a federal case out of his refusal to return funding for the ARC Tunnel. Slated to be one of the biggest public works projects in the country […]

Utilities and regulators design energy rates, regardless of the power source

We often talk about electric rates as if the only thing that goes into determining them is the power source. In some sense, this is right: If a utility’s power costs go up, and nothing else changes, the price they charge consumers will likely eventually go up. But, this understanding doesn’t fully appreciate the role […]

House Dems to corner Republicans into admitting they love Big Oil

House Republicans are planning on voting this afternoon to rev up offshore oil drilling again, and Democrats are taking the opportunity to prove that Republican's hatred of national deficits cannot outweigh their love for oil companies. Right now, oil companies get billions of dollars in tax breaks under a domestic manufacturing provision in the tax […]

Community uses ‘choice aggregation’ to fight its utility

Utilities need to cooperate with their communities.Photo: Powerhouse MuseumThis post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Taking over the local utility has traditionally been the only route for communities wishing to chart their own energy future. California, Ohio, and two other states have opened […]

Republican energy coalition has the most ironic name ever

House Republicans are forming a coalition to talk about energy priorities. They're calling it the Guild to Load Our Business Associates with Lucre While Also Realizing Many International Net Gains, or GLOBALWARMING. Ha ha, just kidding! They're calling it the House Energy Action Team, or HEAT. WHAT? THAT IS NOT EVEN BETTER. Given that the […]

Critical List: Teens throw a tantrum, Prince Charles puts his dukes up

Teenagers are suing the federal government for failing to protect the atmosphere. One plaintiff explains why. A recovery team went inside the Fukushima No. 1 reactor for the first time since the quake. The United Nation's climate change panel issued a preliminary report that says 12.9 percent of global energy came from renewables. Firewood in […]

Warren Buffett doesn’t believe CO2 is a real risk for Berkshire Hathaway

The wise man responsible for all those Geico ads may not be so wise when it comes to climate issues.Photo: JavierBillionaire investor Warren Buffett appears seriously confused about the risks posed by greenhouse gases. Two years ago, the sage of Omaha wrote, “Doubling the carbon dioxide we belch into the atmosphere may far more than […]