Latest Articles

Down under and upside down

Last week, I visited the Australian state of Victoria, where the Parliament approved a bold plan by Premier John Brumby (of the Labor Party) to cut carbon emissions twenty percent below 2000 levels by 2020. His conservative opponent in the November election, Ted Baillieu of the Liberal Party, goes much farther than his national party […]

A call for direct action in the climate movement: we need your ideas

Mass direct action must play a bigger role in the climate movement. Think about possibilities for direct action, and tell us what you come up with.

Ask Umbra on dangerous cosmetics and regulatory loopholes

When one reader learns about all the toxic chemicals in everyday personal care products, she turns to Umbra for help. One way to stay safe: DIY.

Fuel economy labels for new cars

The feds are designing new fuel economy labels for cars, for the first time in 30 years, and they want help with the design. Here's my two-cents worth

Adirondack Adventure–No Bats, One Rabid Fox

Crossposted from Biodiversivist The above Animal Planet video shows a man trying to fend off a rabid fox …with a loaf of bread. I just spent a week with my family in a cabin on the shore of Brant Lake in the Adirondacks. While walking along a main road my wife and I were met […]

The Climate Post: Will the "dead" climate bill become a federal renewable energy standard?

Read about Sen. Lisa Murkowski's primary loss, ocean desertification, what's next for environmentalists, Chinese coal plants, and more.

Carly Fiorina fumbles on Prop 23 issue during California Senate debate

In her first debate with Barbara Boxer, Carly Fiorina couldn't give a straightforward answer to the simple question of whether she supported Prop 23.

This Labor Day, will Trader Joe's finally do right by farmworkers?

Trader Joe's is among the most recent targets of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Fair Food Campaign. But if Joe is feeling the heat, he ain't showing it.

Koch brothers jump into Prop 23 fight

A company controlled by the billionaire Koch brothershas donated $1 million to the campaign to suspend California's global-warming law.

California bags the plastic bag ban but makes solar leap

The Golden State failed to ban plastic bags and may reverse its landmark climate bill AB 32, but it's also adding solar panel capacity like crazy.