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Finally, the USDA names names in its dietary guidelines

The USDA says to eat more of this stuff.Every five years, the USDA formulates new dietary guidelines — advice for Americans on what to eat. And every five years, the guidelines are greeted with a chorus of derision. Critics like Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle have long argued that the agency backs away from directly […]

California utilities (just) miss renewable energy deadline

Time’s up.Photo: elfonThe California Legislature is moving to put into law a regulation requiring the state’s utilities to obtain a third of their electricity from renewable energy by 2020. But how did California’s three big investor-owned utilities do in meeting a previous mandate to secure 20 percent of their electricity supplies from carbon-free sources by […]

Rep. Earl Blumenauer burns calories instead of fossil fuel — and loves it [VIDEO]

In honor of National Bike Summit Week, Politico’s Patrick Gavin takes a ride with Rep. Earl Blumenauer, (D-Ore.), the bikingest guy in Congress. In a video interview, the bow-tie-sporting congressman — who is founder and cochair of the Congressional Bike Caucus — explains why he’s been riding his bike to work for the past 15 […]

Biodegradable shoes go from footwear to fertilizer

Photo: OAT ShoesAre your shoes on their last legs? If they were OAT shoes (which they aren’t, because you can’t buy them in the States yet), you’d be able to just shuck ’em off and bury them in the yard. Kicks from this new line biodegrade completely, a neat trick that just netted them an […]

Waxman rails against Koch’s influence on climate change efforts

Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Speaking at the Center for American Progress Action Fund today, House Energy Committee ranking member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) railed against the toxic influence of Koch Industries on efforts to fight global warming. Waxman, who fought polluters to pass the Clean Air Act of 1990, is dismayed by the level of […]

How does China’s 12th Five-Year Plan address energy and the environment?

China’s got ambition.Cross-posted from the World Resources Institute. The post was written by Deborah Seligsohn, WRI’s principal advisor on climate and energy in Beijing, and Angel Hsu, doctoral student at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The draft of China’s much-anticipated 12th Five-Year Plan was released this Saturday, March 5 at the opening […]

USDA chief flatters industrial ag while Obama honors its greatest critic, Wendell Berry

A year and a half ago, I complained that President Obama’s food and ag policy was “giving me whiplash,” because the administration seemed to keep zigzagging between progressive change and the agrichemical status quo.   Since then, a definite pattern has emerged: The administration puts real policy power behind the status quo — see, for […]

Pacific Northwest sends coal a Dear John letter

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px Arial; color: #1f0199} span.s1 {text-decoration: underline ; color: #1f0199} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline} span.s3 {color: #000000} Dear Coal, We’ve been together a long, long time, but I’m sorry, I’m leaving you for another. Don’t try to argue: like it or […]

Don’t Mess With Mother Nature

A few weeks ago in Lamont, California, a fighting rooster killed a man, when the bird slashed him with the blades he had attached to its legs. A bizarre one-time oddity? No, just days earlier a man in India was also killed when his fighting rooster slashed his throat. Just what is Mother Nature trying […]

How much could you save by riding transit instead of driving?

The ability to go somewhere without gassing up: priceless.Photo: JasonSo the Middle East continues to melt down, and gas prices are going up, again. This time, the jump is the second-biggest in the history of the gasoline market — 33 cents per gallon in just two weeks. According to the American Public Transportation Association, an […]