Latest Articles

Building a better volcano

EyjafjallajokullPhoto courtesy Ludie Cochrane via FlickrIn America, we don’t care much about science. We care about sex and violence and money. That makes it hard to sustain a conversation about geoengineering, given that there is very little sex or money involved, and the only violence is likely to be brought on by future climate catastrophes. […]

This Earth Day, it's about Hip Hop and Hard Hats

On April 22nd, 1970, twenty million Americans took action for the first Earth Day, marking the unofficial birth of the modern environmental movement. Forty years later, Earth Day is as much about hip hop and hard hats as it is about polar bears and Ponderosas. Over the past few years, the green movement has seen […]

'Safe' offshore oil rig explodes, 12 missing, 7 critically hurt

  The dangers of the fossil fuel industry have sadly come into focus again, after an “explosion and fire on an offshore drilling platform” off the coast of Louisiana left “least 12 people missing and seven critically injured.”  Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has the story in this repost. The explosion on the rig Deepwater Horizon occurred […]

Let's rename Earth Day

In 2008, I wrote a piece for Salon about renaming ‘Earth’ Day. It was supposed to be mostly humorous. Or mostly serious. Anyway, the subject of renaming Earth Day seems more relevant than ever because this is the 40th anniversary. In a 2009 interview last year, our Nobel-prize winning Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, said: I would say that from here […]

What to look for in the bipartisan climate and clean energy jobs bill

On Monday, Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will launch their bipartisan climate and clean energy jobs bill.  I’m quite certain there will be something in it to dissatisfy everyone. On the other hand, has Congress ever passed a significant bill that didn’t dissatisfy everyone, particularly on the environment?  We […]

Help spread the word on "Straight Up"

Here’s something you can do to help spread the word about the book and the blog:  Send out an email.  I have some text below that you can make use of, but ideally you’d explain in your own words why you read the blog and why someone should buy the book. The review on the popular website Change.org […]

The Great Global Warming Blunder: Roy Spencer and Marc Morano

Few folks have been as wrong about climate science as Marc Morano and Dr. Roy Spencer.  So it’s no big surprise to see this laughable screaming headline on ClimateDepotted: Morano apparently couldn’t spend 30 seconds on Google to find the link to Spencer’s post on his new memoir, The Great Global Warming Blunder: How Mother Nature Fooled the Climate […]

Saving Civilization is Not a Spectator Sport

Given the enormous environmental and social challenges faced by our early twenty-first century global civilization, one of the questions I hear most frequently is, What can I do? People often expect me to talk about lifestyle changes, recycling newspapers, or changing light bulbs. These are essential, but they are not nearly enough. We now need […]

Joe Conason: “There is nothing subtle about the Republican approach to frustrating reform…"

The underlying agenda on the Republican side, from the top down, is to frustrate and humiliate the president and the Democratic majority — and to ensure that no legislation passes. They typically begin with a memo from Frank Luntz, outlining rhetorical tricks that will be used to mislead and anger voters, while obscuring the true […]

Jamie Oliver on parents, nuggets, ‘luminous drinks,’ and school lunches

“Parents can be the most positive, powerful force in a country or they can be disgusting, backstabbing traitors. When little Johnny comes home and says, ‘I didn’t get my nugget today,’ it’s wrong to say ‘Oh, all right, darling,’ and give him some [expletive] horrible Lunchable and a pack of potato chips and a luminous […]