Latest Articles

Virginia AG mocks dangers of CO2, telling Tea Partiers to hold their breath and make the EPA happy

  On Saturday, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli attended the Powhatan Taxpayers’ Alliance Tea Party rally to address his beloved base.  Think Progress has the details of his anti-science pandering: Cuccinelli reportedly greeted the crowd by saying that it was “great to be with so many people who appreciate the Constitution” and then talked about his challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s […]

Wind industry growing in blue and red states alike

Photo: NREL/Iberdrola RenewablesAs Paul Krugman’s New York Times Magazine cover story on environmental economics, “Building the Green Economy,” was ricocheting around the enviro blogosphere last week, the American Wind Energy Association released its annual report [PDF] on the state of the wind industry. It was an interesting juxtaposition — Krugman’s deep dive into the macroeconomics […]

The New Bottom Line

As the economy begins to rebound, businesses are again focused on commodities that may be in short supply when manufacturing shifts back into high gear. Oil, refined fuels, steel, and electricity are among many things that may be harder to get or just harder to afford. But what about the one commodity that is needed […]

SF keeping PACE

The built environment is responsible for something like 72% of electricity use and ~36% of greenhouse gas emission in the US.  How to get at that chunk of embedded carbon? On Monday, the City of San Francisco launched Green Finance SF, the country’s largest Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program.  The bonding capacity is […]

The way to carbon neutrality

My co-presenter at last weekend’s Carbon Neutrality Unconference, smart-guy Pete Erickson of Stockholm Environment Institute, used four slides that are worth sharing again. Taken together, they’re an excellent — if somewhat wonky way — to think about the basic structure of reducing emissions. 1. What are the cheapest reductions? (Click for larger version) This McKinsey […]

President Must End 200 Years of Regulated Manslaughter

At 3:30pm EST today, residents in West Virginia and across the nation will be observing a moment of silence for the fallen coal miners in last week’s Upper Big Branch mine disaster, their families, and the rescue crews. Everyone in the nation–across the 48 states that burn coal for electricity–should take this moment to consider […]

Insane posse of climate deniers?

I know you were probably a little worried that these guys had gone extinct, so I have some excellent news: Insane Clown Posse just came out with a new song! And that’s not all. It teaches us about science—with a twist—so no need to fret any longer about our flagging education system. It’s a little […]

Don Blankenship called safety regulators ‘as silly as global warming’

Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. The death toll from Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine explosion last week has reached a total of 29 miners, the worst coal disaster in 40 years. When the disaster occurred, Massey was contesting millions of dollars in major safety violations levied against the mine. At his Labor Day anti-union […]

Bonn to Cancun … negotiators agree to continue efforts on international global warming

The first global warming negotiations post Copenhagen have just wrapped up here in Bonn (as I discussed here). It was a 3 day session and was mostly focused on establishing the process and expectations for negotiations this year. While there was some complaining about the Copenhagen Accord from some quarters, the complaining was timid compared […]

HFCS, the precautionary principle, and the myth of absolute certainty

This is Part 2 of 2 posts of in-depth analysis into the breakthrough work on High Fructose Corn Syrup and weight gain by Princeton researchers. _______________ How much “proof” do we need that the pervasiveness of cheap, HFCS-sweetened junk is making us ill? As a follow-up to my email exchange with Princeton HFCS study lead […]