Latest Articles
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An Electrifying Vision: 20 Million Plug-in Hybrids in 5 Years (Video)
With the backdrop of devastated communities and ecosystems in the Gulf, President Obama took the opportunity to challenge the nation to move our clean energy transition forward–but what would that look like? Marc Spitzer of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) makes his case for a transformation of our vehicle fleet to plug-ins. He is […]
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Will Any Republicans Join Democrats in Holding BP Accountable?
Steve Benen and Greg Sargent have been making an important point lately that hasn’t yet received the attention it deserves: to the extent that Republicans intend to oppose efforts to hold BP accountable this summer and fall, they are extremely vulnerable politically. Here’s Benen first, commenting on Republican confusion over just what lengths they should […]
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Some international findings from EPA analysis of the American Power Act
The Obama administration has just released the U.S. EPA analysis of the American Power Act and it shows that U.S. action coupled with reasonable actions by other countries will put us on a path to preventing the worst impacts of global warming.
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Local power: tapping distributed energy in 21st-century cities
Hammarby Sjostad “eco-cycle”Source: HammarbySjostad.de Residents of Hammarby Sjöstad, a district on the south side of Stockholm, Sweden, don’t let their waste go to waste. Every building in the district boasts an array of pneumatic tubes, like larger versions of the ones that whooshed checks from cars to bank tellers back in the day. One tube […]
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The administration’s lame lame-duck climate strategy
Mike Allen, Marc Ambinder, and Juliet Eilperin all report that the Obama administration has adopted a “lame-duck climate strategy.” The idea is to get a slimmed-down energy-only bill through the Senate the week of July 12, drag out conference committee, and send the bill back to both houses in a post-election lame-duck session, “when victorious […]
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Heritage Foods’ Patrick Martins wants to put slaughterhouses back in the city [Q&A]
Rare breed: Patrick Martins moves old-school meat.(Les Meyers photo)After founding Slow Food USA in 2000, Patrick Martins went on to cofound Heritage Foods USA, a nationwide purveyor of meat from sustainably raised, heritage-breed animals, which he continues to head. And every Sunday, he records a radio show & podcast, The Main Course, from New York […]
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Oil spill underscores need for Gulf-area economies to diversify
In the best of times, the three states most directly affected by the Gulf oil disaster have pretty fragile economies. Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi all rank among the bottom ten U.S. states in per-capita income. Obviously, the ever-growing oil spill isn’t just wreaking ecological havoc. It also threatens severe economic damage. The commercial fishing and […]
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BP chairman ‘cares about the small people.’ WTF?
BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg must still be learning the finer points of crisis relations — here’s his explanation (before the White House press corps) of why President Obama is so frustrated with his company: [He’s] frustrated because he cares about the small people. And we care about the small people. I hear comments sometimes that […]
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Swiss supermarkets to offer Think electric cars
Think CityPhoto: Think“Honey, could you run down to the store and pick up some milk, tofu, and one of those new Think City electric cars?” That’s a request you could be hearing soon in Switzerland (in French, German, Italian, or Romansh, of course) now that Norwegian electric automaker Think has struck a deal with Swiss […]
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Where's the damn pony?
When life gives you lemons … add some lemon dispersant and they’ll disappear from sight. Okay, wrong metaphor. Obama has suggested many times that he aspires to be a transformational leader like President Reagan, the “great communicator.” Tonight, we may well find out to tonight whether Obama is a Reagan or a Carter. Does Obama […]
