Latest Articles
-
![]()
![]()
In the age of electric cars, who pays for highways?
Charging up a Chevy Volt. Photo courtesy mkooiman via FlickrHere’s a conundrum as the electric-car future arrives: Once we all start hitting the highway in our Nissan Leafs, Chevy Volts and Think City’s, who’s going to pay for our roads? State and federal excise taxes on every gallon of gasoline sold in the United States […]
-
![]()
![]()
Accident expert weighs in on Gulf oil spill
Charles PerrowRegulation, regulation, regulation. Until the U.S. can make the switch to renewables, insists professor and author Charles Perrow, regulation is the best way to prevent disasters like the Gulf oil spill. Perrow is an organizational theorist, emeritus professor at Yale University, and author of Normal Accidents: Living with High Risk Technologies. He studies accidents. […]
-
Cap-and-dividend: the worst possible way to regulate GHG emissions
Cap-and-dividend stinks. There are probably worse ways to regulate GHG emissions, but none that have gotten any kind of traction inside the beltway. Its advocates — in particular, Peter Barnes and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) — are, so far as I can tell, truly motivated to find good policy solutions. I don’t know either of […]
-
The Climate Post: The empiricist strikes back
First things first: Let’s first pause for a moment to recognize where we are. Three U.S. Senators took the mantle for climate and climate leadership in this Congress, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). Over a series of many months, involving many colleagues, many industries, and many advocacy groups, they […]
-
![]()
![]()
Russia’s public conservation lands under threat [updated]
The Khimki Forest Park.Photo: oDRussia[JULY 21 UPDATE] Some time during the third week of July, workers for the French construction company Vinci began cutting trees along the route of the proposed road. They were discovered by activists and when they could not produce a cutting permit, a fight broke out and the workers chased off. […]
-
![]()
![]()
Keeping the farmer in farmers markets
Photo: Natalie MaynorEarlier this week, the Wall Street Journal aired a bit of dirty laundry that was hiding out in local food’s hamper — the ongoing fight over who gets to sell in farmers markets. Many markets require that sellers be actual growers, rather than “resellers” of some form or another. At a certain level, […]
-
![]()
![]()
Gulf oil spill: angst edition
Photo: U.S. Coast GuardWell, BP has finally lowered the dome over its leaking pipes. It’ll probably be Sunday before crews know whether they can actually start pumping the spewing crude to the surface. While we wonder why the huge containment device wasn’t built, tested, and at the ready all along (doesn’t anybody make multiple backup […]
-
![]()
![]()
Dmitry Orlov on why the U.S. is headed toward Soviet-style collapse
Dmitry Orlov“Really, there’s no one at the helm now,” Dmitry Orlov says nonchalantly. We are talking about the economic crisis and the way that the destructive system of our economy operates without anyone really leading it. It’s a perfect statement from a man who has traded in his house and car to live on a […]
-
![]()
![]()
As Nashville floods recede, an opportunity emerges
Homes in Nashville.Photo courtesy Eric Hamiter via FlickrNASHVILLE, Tenn. — Four days after rainstorms pummeled my hometown, problems mount. Major portions of the city are still submerged beneath floodwaters. Thousands are displaced from their homes, the contents of their lives soaked, mud-caked, and molding. Thousands more have no electricity or plumbing. The city faces severe […]
-
![]()
![]()
New Jersey horse farmers fueled by hay, not oil
Steed for the tillerman: New Jersey farmer Tom Paduano at work(Photos by Jared Flesher) For the past year, I’ve been following around farmers in New Jersey with a video camera. For the most part, they are young, broke, landless, and optimistic. “I’ve hit the jackpot. I’m getting rich. I’m farming,” deadpanned Aubrey Yarbrough, age 28, […]
