Latest Articles

The attack on climate science is the O.J. moment of the 21st century

This essay was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom’s kind permission. — Twenty-one years ago, in 1989, I wrote what many have called the first book for a general audience on global warming. One of the more interesting reviews came from The Wall Street Journal. It was a mixed and judicious […]

Rep. Tom Perriello: ‘Every week the Senate doesn’t act, we’re giving up jobs’

Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.)Rep. Tom Perriello won one of the most celebrated upsets of 2008, narrowly defeating incumbent Republican Virgil Goode to represent Virginia’s 5th District, an historically red district that Obama lost by 2.5 percent. Since then he has voted against the Democrats on a few high-profile issues — he voted against Obama’s budget […]

King Corn airs complaints about USDA

Obama’s ag policy has come under justifiable criticism from the sustainable food movement–see here and here–for its aggressive pro-biotechnology and pro-trade policies. But it has also managed to enrage industrial-ag interests, too, with its “Know your Farmer” program and other gestures toward alternative food. King Corn, it turns out, is a sensitive sovereign. Check this […]

New cases of water pollution documented at U.S. coal ash dumps

Environmental groups have identified serious water contamination problems caused by coal ash dumps at 31 locations in 14 states, bringing to over 100 the number of U.S. sites where damages from coal ash have been confirmed — and strengthening the case for the release of delayed federal regulations. The latest coal ash damage cases are […]

Asian carp: battle or bait?

News of the impending Asian Carp invasion of the Great Lakes is sobering. But I have a solution. Are you listening, Maine Lobsterman’s Association? These fish have been clogging waterways and outcompeting native fish up and down the Mississippi River system ever since they escaped the fish farms where they were used to clean tanks […]

The economics of the Bloom Box

Bloom Energy at the eBay headquaters. Photo courtesy BloomEnergy via Flickr Cross-posted from WattHead. With all the hype today around the release of the “breakthrough” Bloom Energy fuel cell (which has become known as the “Bloom box” and is referred to by Bloom as an “Energy Server“), it’s good to find a couple of posts […]

Hummer to hum along no more?

Crash course General Motors has decided to park the ultimate gas guzzler in that big garage in the sky. GM thought its plans to sell Hummer to a Chinese company had the green light, but got run off the road this week by the Chinese government, ironically, over fears of pollution. Enviros who say fuH2 […]

Your car and your meat-eating: the biggest causes of climate change

A new study coming out of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that when it comes to the net contribution to climate change on-road transportation, burning biomass for cooking, and raising animals for food are the biggest culprits. Since most of us don’t […]

Grading RGGI’s first year

For all the haters who can’t abide cap-and-trade, I give you a new report by Environment Northeast, (ENE) grading RGGI — that’s the carbon cap-and-trade program that’s been operational for over a year now in the northeastern United States. I’m going to steal their thunder and take you right to the conclusion: States deserve significant […]

Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai — is the world next?

Driving around Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, you can easily see the massive construction sites and melting pot of cultures. What is less evident is that a sustainability revolution is going on, from the most humble corner shop to the highest levels of government. Abu Dhabi may best be known in […]