Latest Articles

Breaking: The Republican attack on clean air isn’t popular

Cross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Make no mistake about it: The Clean Air Act is under attack from Congress. Indeed, in the U.S. Senate voting is imminent on several amendments to a non-related small business bill that would ditch, delay, or dilute the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to update and enforce air pollution standards. […]

Obama needs to stop propping up inefficient cars and dirty coal

We’ve got to clean up our cars, and do away with some clunkers.Photo: Mary Anne EnriquezCross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. President Obama today renewed his call to move America forward by reducing our dependence on imported oil and dirty coal at a Georgetown University speech. Meanwhile at the other end of town, members […]

Morel of the story: it’s spring! [VIDEO]

It’s that time of the year. We’ve eaten too many root vegetables, spent many hours pent-up indoors, and too much time outside bundled up like the Michelin man. The first green things that come out of the ground are like a mirage at the end of the long winter. Initially, there are ramps, daylilies, and […]

Free ride: Rising oil prices boost electric cars’ affordability

Will car buyers get the message?Photo: Tom LafteryOne of the biggest knocks against electric cars, other than their current range, is the rather steep upfront cost due to the price of the battery. Of course, you’re essentially pre-paying much of your fuel costs for the life of the car. But that’s a hard message to […]

Bike-lane-hatin’ Rep. Anthony Weiner hates paying parking tickets, too

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) hates bike lanes. He also, Roll Call discovered, hates parking legally — or paying the penalties when he gets ticketed for doing it illegally. Until very recently — that is, until someone caught him at it — Weiner owed $2,180 in unpaid tickets to D.C. How exactly does he suggest we […]

All about the food: The NYT on the ‘future of manufacturing’

Coffee roasting at San Francisco’s Ritual: the future of manufacturing? Photo: Scott Beale of Liquid SquidI wanted to love Allison Arieff’s New York Times opinionator piece on how “The Future of Manufacturing Is Local.” It presents a vision of a world I want to live in: cities revitalized by small, artisanal manufacturing; a revival and […]

The safest place in Japan right now might be inside a nuke plant

Just 75 miles from where workers try to stave off nuclear disaster at Fukushima, another nuke plant is doing double duty as a tsunami shelter. The nuclear facility at Onagawa is currently home to 240 people displaced from the local town, who are hanging around watching TV and making phone calls while they wait to […]

New ‘Tactical Urbanism’ guide for aspiring guerrilla urbanists

With a few trees, some sidewalk tables, and lots of community input, a Dallas street was transformed.Photo: Go Oak Cliff Do you have the power to make your city a better place? It might be easier than you think. The Next Generation of New Urbanists (yes, these are young New Urbanists, because New Urbanism has […]

How to get cleaner cars and use less foreign oil

This post was coauthored by Sierra Club Chairman Carl Pope and League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski. It was cross-posted from the Center for American Progress. America is suffering from another oil price shock less than three years after prices hit a record of $147 per barrel in July 2008. Over the past month, […]

The conflict at the heart of U.S. energy policy: domestic extraction vs. cheap energy

Imagine you’re out to dinner with your spouse. When the waiter comes, she says, “I’m trying to decide between the house salad and the deep-fried twinkie. Which would you recommend?” You might think many things, but “she sure knows what she wants” is not one of them. Now shift to Washington D.C., where we are […]