Latest Articles
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Will these critters be endangered by the Gulf gusher?
These congresscritters are top recipients of contributions from the oil and gas sector — and some of its most vocal supporters, even in the face of a catastrophically unpopular oil leak. Might the Gulf-spill mess threaten their survival? Well, don’t bet on it … Photo: Republican Conference via Flickr Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) “I’m ashamed […]
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Passaic riverkeeper sees signs of hope despite the slow pace of cleanup
Andy Willner, activist and advocate of the Passaic.Photo courtesy of al-ICE g via FlickrOn Jan. 2, 1990, a leaking pipeline at Bayonne, New Jersey’s Exxon Bayway oil refinery sent 567,000 gallons of heating fuel into the surrounding waterways and marsh. Andy Willner volunteered to help the affected wildlife. He wound up collecting a truckload of […]
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Watch oiled politicians get the scrubdown and other spill-inspired ads
Sure, a bird dripping oil is a powerful image. But if you want your political spot to pack a punch, you gotta take it to the next level — say, a politician dripping oil. The Gulf spill, in a perverse way, has been a godsend for the makers of campaign ads — nothing says an […]
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Fannie and Freddie bring down Boulder clean-energy finance program
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac claimed the first casualty in their attack on a promising clean-energy financing tool when Boulder County, Colo., canceled the latest round of its popular ClimateSmart Loan Program on Tuesday. “We are extremely disappointed by the lack of flexibility and vision we’ve encountered with the FHFA [Federal Housing Finance Agency], and […]
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Taking the petro out of petrochemicals
Genomatica’s pilot green chemical plant.Photo courtesy of GenomaticaYou can buy green jeans, green greens (at the farmer’s market), and green beer. But the reality is that many, if not most, products in our industrial society contain some petroleum-based chemicals. In fact, up to a quarter of the oil consumed in some regions of the United […]
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Obama pushes Senators for energy bill with carbon price – and so does Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
Senators say President Barack Obama is insisting that any energy legislation put a price on carbon emissions – something many Republicans call an energy tax they can’t accept. That’s the initial brief AP story after Obama met with a bipartisan group of nearly two dozen senators today. As Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson notes, the GOP […]
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An ode to my new push reel lawn mower
I heart the Fiskars Momentum.It is a truth universally acknowledged that a new homeowner in possession of a good lawn must be in want of a lawn mower. Unless you have access to a herd of goats, or you’re an aggressive gardener with immediate plans to xeriscape or cover all terrain with edible plants. My […]
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A Salon debate on cap-and-trade and energy politics: day three
Last week, I took part in a debate at Salon.com on the merits of pricing carbon (and related matters). My debate opponent was Steve Everley, manager of policy research at American Solutions and a contributing author to To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine, by Newt Gingrich. Salon has graciously agreed to let us republish […]
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Merkley: ‘You can’t run up the white flag until you have the fight’
On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of senators met with Barack Obama at the White House to discuss opportunities for progress on an energy bill. As has been true many times over the session, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) was in the room calling for ambition. In the last month, Merkley has pushed for a price on […]
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Gingrich slams Obama on Gulf gusher and sounds off on climate
Newt Gingrich, green conservative.Photo: Gage SkidmoreA couple of years ago, Newt Gingrich was sounding like a climate activist. The former Republican speaker of the House posed with current Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a couch in front of the Capitol for a 2008 ad sponsored by Al Gore’s organization, the Alliance for Climate Protection. “[O]ur […]
