Latest Articles
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Cost, not Japan crisis, should scrub nuclear power
Please ignore this image.Photo: GlobovisionThe plumes of smoke rising from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor create a visceral reaction. But the crisis should not persuade Americans to abandon nuclear power. Instead, Americans should abandon nuclear power for its prohibitive and uncompetitive costs. The wildly escalting costs of nuclear plants under construction in the U.S. are […]
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If President Obama calls it safe, watch out
Pondering whether “safe” means what he thought it meant.Photo: The White HousePresident Barack Obama is a good fellow at work in a difficult era, to say the least. So this post is not intended to be a slam on the president. Still, it is a good idea for Obama to be much more cautious when […]
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Forget the gloom — new ways of living and organizing our economy are flourishing
Despite a flurry of bad news recently, good things are spouting up.Photo: Judy Merrill-SmithThe last couple of days have been gloomy ones. I kept checking in with the vague and dire reports from the nuclear-power bleeding edge in Japan. For part of the time I was also immersed in a post about truly awful things […]
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Majority of Americans still understand global warming, despite best efforts of Fox
A new Gallup poll shows that 52 percent of Americans understand that global warming is due more to human activities than natural variation, and only 43 percent believe the opposite. That’s marginally better than last year — 50 to 46, barely holding on to a “believe in science” majority” — but way down from 2007, […]
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If Rush Limbaugh’s heart fell out of his chest and into a bowl of raisins, you wouldn’t spot it
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.1011853&w=620&h=511&fv=config%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fmediamatters.org%2Fembed%2Fcfg3%3Fid%3D201103150020] Rush Limbaugh is laughing at Japan’s earthquake refugees. “They’ve given us the Prius. Even now, refugees are recycling their garbage.” Here, he began to laugh, continuing, “and yet, Gaia levels them! Just wipes them out!” h/t John Rennie for the headline Read more: “Rush Limbaugh Mocks Japan Quake Refugees [VIDEO],” The Huffington Post
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Does sprawl development drive away talented professional people?
Troy, Michigan: can this place be saved?Photo: Wayne Senville, Planning Commissioners JournalThere’s a great discussion going on at the indispensable blog about the industrial Midwest, RustWire.com. It was prompted by their posting last week of a letter from Andrew Basile, Jr., the CEO of a legal firm with offices in Troy, Mich., entitled “Why our […]
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Wanna green your ride? Ditch the Prius, hop on a train
Chart: EPA Here’s one to piss off the yuppies: Driving your hybrid car from your Energy Star home to the food co-op is not as green as hopping on the subway from your apartment. A new EPA study says that moving from a car-oriented to a transit-oriented community has the biggest impact on your energy […]
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Polluters have the tech they need to reduce toxic mercury and make Americans healthier
Listen up, polluters.Photo: sara b.Yesterday, EPA released plans for its long-awaited “utility MACT” rule, which would regulate toxic air pollutants like mercury. I want to address one contested point in particular — the availability of technology to reduce mercury emissions — but first some scene setting. The benefits of making Americans healthier From a health […]
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Japan’s tsunami gets the Pixar treatment in realistic animation
This reporter didn’t really appreciate how a “subduction zone earthquake” of the kind that afflicted Japan causes a tsunami, until he watched CGI-ish animation of one in progress. Watch out for the explosive kick around 0:06: Read more: Animation: Subduction Zone Tsunami Mother Jones
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Romney may be the Koch mule of Campaign 2012
Meet the new boss, whose boss is the same as the old boss’s boss. Looks like David Koch has already hosted a fundraiser for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Romney has in the past acknowledged the existence of global warming, which is pretty good considering, but now we’re waiting for him to cut and paste […]
