Latest Articles

Introducing the American Power Act: On strategy and substance

Busy day here — started early with some curtain-raising morning television to kick off the discussion a bit about the American Power Act that Joe Lieberman [I-Conn.] and a unique coalition are talking about later today. But sometimes those morning-show interviews are a bit of a reminder of how much detailed discussion we lose when […]

With climate bill's fate uncertain, researchers offer another map to a clean energy future

Landmark legislation to curb U.S. carbon emissions is set to be introduced in the Senate today, but odds that the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill will pass are less than overwhelming. Former co-sponsor Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has withdrawn his support because he’s upset with the Senate’s decision to take up immigration reform first. He’s also said […]

Offshore Wind, Not Offshore Oil

This piece was written by my colleague Janet Larsen at the Earth Policy Institute. The enormously devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is just one reminder that stretching out an addiction to a polluting and planet-warming fossil fuel poses risks to our health, our environment, and our economy. U.S. oil production peaked in […]

Berkeley school food revolution’s secret ingredient: parents

Part 2 of Cafeteria Confidential: Berkeley, in which Ed Bruske reports on his recent week-long, firsthand look at how Berkeley, Calif., schools part ways from the typical school diet of frozen, industrially processed convenience foods. Cross-posted from The Slow Cook. And check out the rest of the Cafeteria Confidential series. Eric Weaver’s son is a freshman […]

Ask Umbra’s Book Club: WTFood?

Dearest readers, Thank you to all who attended yesterday’s live chat with author Anna Lappé, who doled out informative answers to your most vexing food–climate change questions. (If you missed it, you can catch the replay.) But now it’s time to offer up some of your own insights on Lappé’s tome Diet for a Hot […]

Ask Umbra’s DIY shampoo and conditioner video

Shampoo and conditioner are things you’ve likely never questioned. But did you know they weren’t used until the 20th century? These packaged products are often expensive and contain toxins that are dangerous to our health. You can be well coiffed and conscientious. Umbra shows you how to make DIY shampoo and conditioner with baking soda, […]

People who eat organic junk food don’t know what organic means

Organic Oreos? Don’t bite the hype.EricSkiff via Creative Commons Atkins. South Beach. Master Cleanse. Each of these diets is supposed to help you lose weight (and feel great!). “Organic,” on the other hand, does not belong in quite the same category. According to a new study, however, there appears to be an organic-cookie-eating portion of […]

Bingaman rebukes Lieberman’s oil disaster excuse that ‘accidents happen’

Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Last week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) defended the inclusion of expanded offshore drilling in the climate bill he will unveil tomorrow, brushing off the deadly Gulf disaster by saying that “accidents happen:” There were good reasons for us to put in offshore drilling, and this terrible accident is very rare […]

Disaster contingency plans are ‘fantasy documents’ when it comes to big oil spills

Lee Clarke.Am I the only one mystified — and, OK, horrified — by British Petroleum’s apparent failure to have a contingency plan in place for just the kind of worst-case scenario that happened in the Gulf on April 20? Thankfully not. “Fantasy documents” is how author and sociologist Lee Clarke describes most corporate contingency plans […]

A three-way blame game at oil-spill hearing

Here’s your 30-second wrap of the first congressional hearing on the BP Gulf oil disaster: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hauled in executives from BP America, which leased the Deepwater Horizon rig; Transocean, which owned the rig; and America’s favorite, Halliburton, which laid cement for the rig. Executives from the three companies — […]