Latest Articles

How Americans defeated efficiency with consumerism

The Energy Information Administration's Residential Energy Consumption Survey, released yesterday, shows that average household energy usage has remained remarkably stable over the last 30 years — even as appliances have gotten way more efficient. Why? Well, we just have a pantload more appliances. (Seriously, look in your pants RIGHT NOW. Do you have a gadget […]

The E.U. wants gas-powered cars gone from its cities by 2050

Can he look forward to a future with no gas-powered cars?Photo: Alison OddyThe European Union has just announced an ambitious transportation goal: the elimination of gas-powered cars in its cities by 2050. It’s part of a plan that aims to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sources: A new European transport plan [PDF] aims […]

Hilarious cartoon ads: Sex is no accident. Always use a condom.

Best. PSAs. Ever. From MTV in Germany. We could use ads like this ’round these parts.       Again with the MTV doing good on sex ed. (h/t Adweek)  

Republicans for Environmental Progress: An Endangered Species

For most of modern American history, the two major political parties in America have largely agreed on the desired long-term environmental outcomes for the country: there was a consensus among Republicans and Democrats that it was a good thing to press for cleaner air and water, less toxins in the environment, biodiversity preservation, and mitigation […]

How to queer ecology and the environmental movement

Alex Johnson exploring riotous, unpredictable Nature.Missoula-based writer Alex Johnson believes we need to queer the concept of ecology, and I’m inclined to agree. After enjoying his feature “How to Queer Ecology: One Goose at a Time” in the current issue of Orion magazine, I asked him to expand on some of his ideas. Q. You […]

Budget-strapped police forces going with green vehicles to save on fuel

Aspiring Blues Brothers may be able to get old Crown Vics cheap pretty soon — but if you’re at all eco-minded, you may not want to drive them. The iconic and soon-to-be-retired police rides only got 14 m.p.g. in the city, but the Ford Interceptor — set to be their primary replacement when they go […]

How coal could make your car more efficient

That’s right: You may soon be able to use coal to make your car more fuel-efficient. Not by running it on coal — gross! — but building it out of metal mixed with structures found in coal ash. Fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal, contains microscopic bubbles called cenospheres. They sound like Clive Barker […]

Koch-funded scientist Richard Muller makes up story about Al Gore, Ralph Cicerone, and polar bears

Berkeley Professor Richard Muller, author of widely debunked books, has worked hard to undermine credibility in well-established science and doesn’t have a great grasp of basic climate science (see here) or energy (see “here). Now, as we’ll see, he has become such a victim of Gore Derangement Syndrome that he fabricated a story about the […]

ADHD: It’s the food, stupid

Over 5 million children ages four to 17 have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the United States, and close to 3 million of those children take medication for their symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But a new study reported in The Lancet last month found that with a […]

Artificial solar leaf beats trees at their own game

What's better than trees? I'll tell you: ROBOT TREES. Scientists at MIT have developed "artificial leaves" — small solar cells, about the size (though not the shape) of an oak leaf, that use a photosynthesis-like process to turn water into electricity. Only they do it ten times more efficiently than natural leaves, and the electricity […]