Latest Articles
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World Bank vote gives billions to coal
It's bad news for clean energy and our planet today, as the United States failed to follow its own global warming guidelines. The World Bank today approved a $3.75 billion loan to South African power utility Eskom to help build a 4,800 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Medupi. The funding would also facilitate plans for a second large coal plant in Kusile. The coal plants will be among the largest and most polluting worldwide.
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Another tragic iceberg awaiting Massey’s titanic violations: Brushy Fork Dam
Hope must die last in the coalfields, as our prayers go out to the families of the missing four coal miners and the 25 killed in the recent Montcoal mining disaster in West Virginia. But as heroic rescue teams attempt to reach the missing miners, another potential disaster instigated by reckless Massey Energy regulatory violations […]
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Weather Channel asks, "July in April?"
CP: So it’s friggin’ hot in DC and much of the country. Audience: How hot is it? CP: It’s so hot that: I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walkin’. The robins are laying their eggs sunny side up. I saw squirrels fanning their nuts. Even meteorologists are doing stories about human-caused […]
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I'm speaking Friday at Dartmouth on nukes and climate
For all you New Englanders, the details on the “Second Annual Great Issues in Energy Symposium” are here and below: Friday, April 9, 2010, 3:00–5:15pm Spanos AuditoriumReception immediately followingFree and open to the public An informed view of societal energy challenges and possible responsive measures requires understanding nuclear energy and related issues. While construction of a […]
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Ask Umbra’s Book Club: The three L’s — laziness, learning, and lawlessness
Dearest readers, I’ve so enjoyed reading all of your comments thus far about Dolly Freed’s Possum Living. The 9-to-5 grind, raising and slaughtering your own meat—stimulating threads. You know, I couldn’t help but notice how often Freed talks about the basis for her and her father’s lifestyle choice being that they are lazy. Tending a […]
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Energy production vs. environmental protection: The partisan divide
Via Samantha Thompson, a new Gallup poll found that, for the first time in 10 years of polling, Americans prioritize energy production over the protection of the environment. Here is the key chart: While the chart is compelling, it falls short on multiple levels. 1. The options it presents are a false dichotomy. We have […]
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Towns invest in smarter streets … in Mississippi
Two Mississippi towns want better options than auto-only streets, and now they’ve made it official. The towns of Tupelo (pop. 36,223) and Hernando (pop. 6,812) each passed Complete Streets legislation that ensures roads will be built and maintained for walkers, cyclists, and other forms of transportation—along with drivers. Yesterday St. Louis citizens voted to fund […]
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Scientific models predict continued decline in Washington Post circulation
OK, the Washington Post’s circulation will probably keep declining even in the unlikely event their coverage of global warming improves. But my headline is at least as scientific as the WP’s latest climate piece “Scientists’ use of computer models to predict climate change is under attack.” Memo to WashPost: Scientists use of computer models to predict/project climate change […]
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St. Louis votes for better transit, despite Tea Party campaign
Here’s some good news: St. Louis citizens want robust mass transit, and they’re willing to pay for it. Despite a Tea Party opposition campaign, St. Louis County voters on Tuesday approved a half-cent sales tax increase to stabilize and eventually expand the region’s ailing transit network. The measure passed by a monstrous 24 point margin. […]
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A lesson from California’s bad ballot measure
California’s nascent cap-and-trade program appears to be threatened by a ballot measure that is both substantively idiotic and yet diabolically clever. Basically, the measure would suspend implementation until California’s unemployment rate declines to below 5.5 percent. Financial backing comes from oil companies and other big polluters. Shocking, I know. Anyway, it’s a stupid idea on […]