Latest Articles

Afghanistan sitting on a motherlode

Mountains in Afghanistan.Photo courtesy Paolo Alfieri via FlickrNothing like the revelation of precious metals in a far off land to get the hyperbole flowing — and stir up the cynics. And so it goes in the wake of James Risen’s New York Times report that the U.S. has identified nearly a trillion dollars in mineral […]

More ideas for Harry Reid: on energy efficiency in Senate energy legislation

Senate majority leader Harry Reid is pulling together an energy bill soon. It may or may not include a price on carbon, but it will certainly include a range of energy-focused provisions, and right now there are too few bold, progressive energy ideas on the table. As I said yesterday, Sen. Jeff Merkley’s oil plan […]

Time to get tough with BP on dispersants

As of June 9, BP had applied at least 1.1 million gallons of toxic chemical dispersants to address its ongoing oil leak in the Gulf. That’s the most that has been used in one place since 1979, when the Mexican government dropped between 1 million and 2.5 million gallons on a leak off the coast […]

Retrofitting 75,000 houses would save as much energy as in the Gulf spill

Here’s a visceral way to represent potential energy savings in the built environment: Source: EnergySavvy That’s via the folks at Energy Savvy. If only the Senate had some sort of legislative strategy that could put this information to use … oh, wait, it does! Home Star legislation will spur the retrofit of 3.3 million homes, […]

2010’s most annoying fad: the ‘vintage’ incandescent bulb

Some ideas are broken from the start.Photo: laszlo-photo via Flickr Apparently, the latest retro-hot-design fad revolves around inefficiency so glaring it’s blinding: a return to “vintage” light bulbs, which are energy-sucking exposed-filament copies of Edison’s original illuminating invention. Restaurant designers all over the world seem to be snatching up these antique-style bulbs that cost anywhere […]

Agreed: All processed food is not created equal

At last, Ezra Klein returns to food! And he levels a legitimate criticism at the food movement: One of the really difficult things about getting people to eat better is convincing them that it’s not just a way for others to impose class-based lifestyle preferences on one another. But when you’re down on processed foods […]

Oil, jobs, and the environment — a New Deal solution to the spill?

Cross-posted from New Deal 2.0. Franklin D. RooseveltPhoto: uncgspecial via FlickrIn the wake of recent revelations that far more oil is spilling out into the Gulf than was originally estimated, and as it now appears more and more likely that BP will not be able to completely shut off the flow of oil until perhaps […]

One super-toxic chemical down, thousands more to go

Last week, and capping at least a decades-long battle by consumer advocates, the EPA announced a ban on the pesticide endosulfan — one of the last legal organochlorine pesticides, a notorious group of which DDT is a member. Horrifically toxic (possibly more toxic to humans than DDT) and banned in the European Union since 2007, […]

Van Jones on Obama’s ‘megaphone moment’: ‘People want to be called to service’

Cross-posted from the Wonk Room Center for American Progress senior fellow Van Jones believes that the American public want to be “called to service” by President Barack Obama to respond to the Gulf oil disaster. Appearing on TV One’s Washington Watch with Roland Martin, Van Jones described the challenge the president faces in moving from […]

Obama’s oil reform opportunity

President Barack Obama has made four trips to visit gulf state communities affected by the BP disaster and now plans to give his first-ever Oval Office speech to the nation this Tuesday evening to address the issue. This manmade calamity threatens the nation’s economy, health, and environment. This is also a crucial moment in the […]