Articles

The fate of mass transit in an age of deficit hysteria

As deficit hysteria mounts, the bad economy is derailing what little green infrastructure we have. Now it's really time for greens to get active in the economic-policy debate, or risk being stuck with outdated technologies like the car.

Tom Philpott Politics

Obama administration sued over secrecy surrounding nuclear power subsidies

After President Obama announced back in February that his administration would provide $8.3 billion in taxpayer-financed loan guarantees to the Southern Company to build two new nuclear reactors at its Plant Vogtle in Georgia, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy sought details about the deal under the Freedom of Information Act. The watchdog group submitted […]

Sue Sturgis Climate & Energy

D.C. Public Schools partners with food-service agency that teaches ex-cons to cook

The District of Columbia is about to embark on what may be the nation's most unorthodox public-school food program: meals made from scratch, using locally grown ingredients, by a charitable social-services agency whose primary mission is feeding the homeless and teaching ex-offenders how to cook.

Ed Bruske Food

USDA wants us to 'know your farmer,' FDA wants us to stay home

A new federal law went into effect last month, supposedly designed to reduce the risk of Salmonella enteritidis contamination, which requires farms with more than 3,000 hens to abide by strict sanitation practices, including keeping customers out of the chicken houses. Is there something they don't want us to see?

David Gumpert Politics

The U.S. power sector: where the power plants are, when they were built, what they pollute

A broad look at the power industry -- where the power plants are, what they burn, and which ones pollute.

David Roberts Climate & Energy

A new way to grow peas: in your lungs

Nowadays growing food is totally hip, delicious, and sure to appease the most Frugal Freddy. But this is the weirdest place we've ever heard of growing food.

Ashley Braun Culture

New Walk Score assumes you won’t swim to the grocery store

A great tool gets better.

Jonathan Hiskes Cities

Colorado Springs goes dark, Lexington goes bright

Dickens begins his novel with the famous line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Were he writing today about the two American cities -- Lexington, Mass. and Colorado Springs, Colo. -- he might say, “It was the brightest of towns, it was the dimmest of towns.” In this case, bright and dim refer quite literally to light levels, but also to the decision making of two very different sets of civic leaders.

Terry Tamminen Technology

Arid El Paso makes every drop count

Deep in the desert, El Paso has found a way to conserve its precious water. Despite a growing population, water usage has actually gone down.

Marie "Louie" Gilot Cities

Wading into a water war between two countries and two states

Ed Archuleta, of the El Paso Water Utilities, had to figure out how to make water resources last while sharing them with Mexico and another state.