Latest Articles
-
![]()
![]()
Wind power now competitive with coal in some regions
Photo: Vlasta JuricekMore good news on the renewable energy front Monday: The cost of onshore wind power has dropped to record lows, and in some regions is competitive with electricity generated by coal-fired plants, according to a survey by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a market research firm. “The latest edition of our Wind Turbine Price […]
-
![]()
![]()
Why enviros should have a more active voice about regulations
Speak up!Photo: theparadigmshifterBecause the political arena is often fraught with hyperbole, misinformation, and special interest pandering, facts and reason don’t count for as much as they should. Despite that, green advocates have smartly and effectively engaged in the political arena to help protect the environment and public health. But to augment that advocacy, it is […]
-
WH Gig for Mubarak
White House climate policy czar Carol Browner recently left her post “to spend more time with her family” (political-speak for “thanks for playing, but don’t let the door hit you in the backside on your way out”). Given his 2008 campaign pledge to get Congress to deal with US carbon pollution and thereby support a […]
-
![]()
![]()
Time to retire the USDA’s dietary guidelines?
Once every five years, the federal government goes to great lengths to update its recommendations for how Americans should eat. In fact, Congress mandates that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) be based on the most current science available. Yet over the years, the DGA process has been wrought with politics, which should come as […]
-
![]()
![]()
Reagan helped save the ozone layer but ruined America’s leadership in clean energy
The clean energy “culprit in chief.”Sunday was the 100th anniversary of President Reagan’s birth. As ThinkProgress points out, the right-wing hagiography of the Gipper leaves out the fact that he was “a serial tax raiser” and “nearly tripled the federal budget deficit” and “gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants.” His overall environmental legacy as […]
-
![]()
![]()
What Obama should know about ending oil subsidies
This post originally appeared on the Great Energy Challenge blog, in partnership with National Geographic and Planet Forward. Despite my seriously mixed feelings about the State of the Union speeches, I tuned in to this year’s speech for the first time in several years. Like many, I was disappointed if not surprised that President Obama […]
-
![]()
![]()
The (not so) New Agtivist: Organic movement leader Bob Scowcroft looks back
Bob Scowcroft in 2008, in one of his signature shirts.Photo: Bart NagelAfter nearly three decades at the center of organic food and farming world, Bob Scowcroft recently retired as head of the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). Scowcroft was California Certified Organic Farmers‘ first executive director in 1987, then went on to cofound and lead […]
-
![]()
![]()
Distributed renewable generation = big numbers
Distributed renewable energy comes in small bites, but it makes mouthfuls — gigawatts — of renewable energy capacity. Americans tend think big, but it is countries that built small that are hitting big renewable energy targets. Take Germany. In 2009, it installed 3,000 megawatts (MW) of solar PV, more than three times all the solar […]
-
![]()
![]()
‘Mom, can we get the kind of car that we keep at our house?’
But everybody else does it!Photo: Mario KlingemannOn a recent, rather brisk, walk to church, my 3-year-old daughter, Rosa, asked, “Mom, can we get the kind of car that we keep at our house?” As opposed, that is, to the kind we use for a few hours and then return. I wasn’t especially surprised by the […]
-
![]()
![]()
H&M wants the clothes you throw out to be more sustainable
It’s recycling! I recycled David Byrne’s jacket and Shakespeare’s pants.Is disposable-clothes giant H&M still trying to save face from the time it got caught with its pants down, shredded, and thrown in a dumpster in Herald Square? The clothing company, long a purveyor of one-season clothing for teenyboppers and underpaid professionals, is making a move […]
