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China and India to report their global warming pollution every two years

Both China and India have now reaffirmed that they will report their global warming emissions every two years. The framework of this was agreed in the Copenhagen Accord which outlined that every two years developing countries will report their national emissions inventories and emission reduction actions based upon internationally agreed guidelines (as I discussed here).  […]

Time to bury cheap coal

In 2009, nearly 15,000 megawatts of proposed coal fired power plants were canceled. To put that in perspective, that would represent about a third of all electricity generating capacity of a state the size of California. This is not a consequence of a slow economy alone; eight years ago, 36,000 megawatts of new coal plants […]

Carly Fiorina said cap-and-trade ‘will both create jobs and lower the cost of energy’

Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. In pursuit of the California Republican Party nomination for the 2010 Senate, Carly Fiorina has abandoned her support for cap-and-trade legislation. The former Hewlett Packard executive hopes to unseat Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who has championed clean energy legislation as the chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee. In […]

The parable of the electric bike

Brynnen Ford carpools kids to school in her Madsen electric bike.Photo: Brynnen FordMmmm. An electric bike. Zipping through the city. Surging up hills without gasping for breath. Riding in business dress and arriving fresh and dry. Healthy, moderate exercise. No traffic jams. Free parking. Huge load-hauling potential. Near-free fueling. Zero emissions. Breeze in your face. […]

Guess what? Salesmen sell things

I keep wating for a credible author to write a piece about the alleged “nuclear renaissance” that doesn’t make me gag a little. Today will not be that day.  Hendrik Hertzberg writes a piece for the New Yorker that basically repeats all the same names and talking points, but goes one step further: this passage […]

You may be bike-curious if …

earlblumenauer.comInterested in experimenting with the more than 45 million other Americans out there trying it? Exhausted by this nation’s tedious affair with one type of transport? Wondering if you might like spinning your wheels the other way? Then, you may be bike-curious, says Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer. This Portland politician is pedaling bi-opportunities left and right: […]

New Gallup poll shows sharp partisan divide in understanding of climate change

Newly released Gallup polling seems to show a sharp drop in the percentage of Americans who know about, are concerned about, and understand the threat of global warming. The piece leads with a graph showing a sharp increase in the percentage of Americans who think the seriousness of global warming is generally exaggerated:   When […]

How the global food market starves the poor [video]

To understand the complexities of the international food market — and how traders in Chicago can cause Africans to starve — you could get a Ph.D. in economics, or read a 400-page report from the World Bank. Or you watch this superb nine minute video, directed by Denis van Waerebeke. Though ostensibly created for a […]

Daylight saving time doesn’t save energy

You can’t save daylight by moving around the hands on your clock, of course. So daylight saving time remains as absurdly named as it ever was. The general pointlessness of DST was the subject of a Rachel Maddow interview Friday (video below) with the author of a whole book (!) on the subject. What’s germane […]

The water wars: California’s salmon vs. agribiz interests

I’ve been selling fish for 30 years, and I’m pleased that my store, the Monterey Fish Market, has a reputation for exceptionally fresh and sustainably sourced seafood. We’re lucky in that our customers support us in our mission to provide the best possible product that doesn’t contribute to the destruction of our wild fisheries. I’m […]