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What Berkeley can teach us about taking clean energy programs to scale

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs, which allow private property owners to finance energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects via their property taxes, has been taking off around the country. These programs are designed to spur private improvements to reduce our nation’s energy consumption, create green jobs, and lower energy bills. The first PACE program was announced […]

Gore’s climate remedy must match diagnosis

Al Gore’s eminence in the global climate movement is on impressive display in his full-throated defense of climate science in Sunday’s New York Times. His essay, “We Can’t Wish Away Climate Change,” is triple the paper’s standard length for op-eds. Only Gore could command such a bully pulpit, and probably no one else could so […]

Lindsey Graham’s dilemma, part one: How ACES got dealt a poor hand

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) appear set to introduce a draft of their new climate/energy legislation this week. Graham says they are trying to hash out a moderate bill that can draw broad public support and pick up a few Republican votes. Now, as it happens, what Graham is […]

Study suggests junk food taxes may beat healthy food subsidies

An interesting new study was just published in Psychological Science, about a lab experiment at SUNY Buffalo that suggests junk-food taxes increase the overall nutritional quality of a shopping trip, while subsidies on healthy foods actually decrease the nutritional quality (via Science Daily). [Study author and clinical psychologist Dr. Leonard] Epstein and colleagues simulated a […]

Sen. Inhofe’s latest attack is on climate scientists, not just science

Sen. James Inhofe, (R-Okla.), the Senate’s chief spokesman for climate deniers, says so many outrageous things (see his recent interview on Grist) he’s all but lost his power to surprise. Last week, though, the Oklahoma Republican crossed a line that I find shocking, attempting to discredit scientists through innuendo and the kind of intimidation that […]

Philadelphia activists rally & risk arrest to tell the EPA no more MTR

Philly EPA Considering 16 New Mining Permits This morning activists in Philadelphia descended upon their Regional EPA branch to put an end to Mountaintop Removal mining (MTR). Decisions made here in Philly have devastating consequences for Appalachian communities and our country as a whole. Activists prepared to enter the building and risk arrest by sitting-in […]

Jeff Biggers talks about his new book on coal

Jeff Biggers talked about his new book Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland on GRITtv with Laura Flanders last Friday. Check out the interview: Biggers was also on Democracy Now! to talk about the myth the of clean coal technologies that President Obama continues to promote.

What climate scientists aren’t telling us

They’re secretly unicycling jugglers! Turns out you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do it, though — just a climate scientist. At least that’s the case for NASA climate modeler Gavin Schmidt, who, after he’s done juggling data to pin down atmospheric changes, likes to space out by tossing pins and balls into […]

What are your best ideas for saving energy at home?

Our friends at Slate have launched a new project that’s collecting practical suggestions for living a more energy-efficient life. Check out the ideas offered so far, vote on your favorites, and submit your own.  A panel of judges, including yours truly, will help choose the top ideas.  If you’re in the D.C. area, join Slate […]

James Cameron: I’m the greenest director of all time!

Photo: Official Avatar Movie photostream via FlickrHe’s made the highest grossing film on the planet, but Hollywood mega-director James Cameron is now promoting “Avatar” as the most successful environmental film of all time, too.  Really. “There is no studio anywhere in the world who would say an environmental message would make $3 billion … I […]