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EPA Takes Action to Protect People from Dangerous Coal Pollution

How’s this for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fulfilling its role to protect environmental and public health: On Tuesday, EPA proposed a rule that would prevent between 14,000 and 36,000 premature deaths annually. The Transport Rule would set stronger emissions standards for the dangerous air pollution emitted from coal-fired power plants in the eastern United […]

Me, on the Mike Malloy show

Yesterday, I went on the Mike Malloy show, which was being guest-hosted by Brad Friedman of BradBlog and Green News Report fame. I was on to explain the basics of cap-and-trade and defend it from attacks. That, apparently, is my lot in life. Here’s the first segment (you’ll have to fast forward to about 11:15): […]

It’s raining apples

These apples might look green, but they’re perfectly ripe — and begging to be picked.(Steph Larsen photos) I have my work cut out for me.When nature calls on the farm, we listen. Meaning, when a fruit with a short shelf life becomes suddenly ripe, there’s no choice but to drop everything else. Did you know […]

Sure it’s hot, but here are six reasons not to hate the sun

Spend a week on the sticky East Coast and it’s easy to go off on the sun. But stay cool. If we have any hope of beating our oil addiction, we need that Great Heat Machine in the Sky. Just last weekend, President Obama committed to $2 billion in loans to solar energy companies, including […]

Pennsylvania cattle quarantined from gas fracking contamination

Natural gas drilling operations in Dimock, Pa.(Helen Slottje, Shaleshock.org via Flickr)Via ProPublica: Agriculture officials have quarantined 28 beef cattle on a Pennsylvania farm after wastewater from a nearby gas well leaked into a field and came in contact with the animals. The state Department of Agriculture said the action was its first livestock quarantine related […]

Do enviros need to reassess their big-picture climate strategy?

Yesterday, I asked seven of Grist’s favorite journos and wonks what policies reformers should focus on this year now that chances for a cap-and-trade bill appear dim. Read their answers. Today, they grapple with a broader question.  Our panel: Michael Levi, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Amanda Little, Grist alumnus and author […]

Want a party? Kick cars off the street in Oakland

Shut down a street to autos and sunny revelry instantly breaks out with lots of happy Californians. OK, maybe not automatically, but a key appeal of Complete Streets is that human-scaled throughways tend to be much more social than environments designed for cars. Streetsfilms makes the case by chronicling the first-ever Ciclovía day on Oakland, […]

My statement at sentencing

Yesterday, I was sentenced in Washington, D.C. for my conviction on two misdemeanors for hanging "Green Jobs Now" and "Get to Work" banners in the Hart Senate Office Building last September. Read the statement I read in open court before I was sentenced

‘Climategate’ scientists cleared of all charges by independent review

An exhaustive six-month independent review into the Climategate emails has concluded that the “rigor and honesty” of the climate scientists caught up in the non-scandal are “not in doubt.” [PDF] The investigation, led by Sir Muir Russell, found no grand conspiracy among scientists brainwashed by the U.N. IPCC and Al Gore to dominate the planet […]

Get drivers to slow down (and save fuel) by making it fun

From the people who brought you piano stairs comes an idea for getting more drivers to obey speed limits. “Fun theory award” winner Kevin Richardson suggests making it “fun” to drive the speed limit by entering lawful drivers in a lottery and awarding cash prizes to some. Money could come from fining speeders, although that […]