Latest Articles
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National Day of Action Against Coal Ash
On Thursday, Jan 28th, Sierra Club and our allies at Earthjustice, Environmental Integrity Project, NRDC and grassroots groups across the country are participating in a national day of action to urge the Obama Administration to move forward with strong, federally enforceable rules to regulate coal ash disposal. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working […]
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Cap-and-trade death knell, revisited and revised
I have been scolded by several progressive green friends for my post on Sen. Lindsey Graham’s comments on cap-and-trade. I should admit up front that “death knell” was a bit dramatic on my part; generally speaking, it’s better never to draw big conclusions from the kind of lazy reporting done by the likes of The […]
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In State of the Union, Obama panders to conservatives on ‘clean energy’
I’m never sure how to write these reaction pieces to the State of the Union. I’m far past the point when my reactions bear any relation to Normal People’s. By all indications, Normal People loved Obama’s speech — instapolls showed positive reactions. Reviews from the punditocracy seem generally positive as well. Hell, Chris Matthews forgot […]
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Apple’s new iPad is deep green, but a planet saver? Nope.
The iPad.Photo: Apple This post is reprinted courtesy of GreenerComputing.com. The day that gadget-lovers have been waiting for with bated breath for months if not years has finally arrived. On Wednesday, just after 10 a.m., Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad — something along the lines of a blown-up version of the iPhone. Weighing 1.5 pounds, […]
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The climate and energy section of Obama’s State of the Union speech
The text of Obama’s speech has been released. Here’s what it says about climate and energy: Next, we need to encourage American innovation. Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history – an investment that could lead to the world’s cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but […]
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USDA’s Deputy Secretary discusses local, organic farming
Cross-posted from Civil Eats. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan It was by no means Kathleen Merrigan’s first trip to the Ecological Farming Conference (EcoFarm). But when the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture stood at a podium to address last week’s annual gathering of farmers, retailers, processors, and advocates, it was clear she had never had […]
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Bill Gates disses energy efficiency, renewables, and near-term climate action while embracing the ma
Billionaires say the darndest things! The above screen shot of a nonsensical Bill Gates piece dissing energy efficiency came from his website, The Gates Notes, which turned into a HuffPost piece, and then Yahoo News. Yes, even the very rich are very confused about energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate policy, and global warming — […]
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Farmers, Idaho utility embrace efficiency and demand response
Four decades ago, when Sid Erwin began his career as an inspector at the Idaho Power Company, a string of new hydroelectric plants was pumping out power faster than locals could buy it. Soon enough, Mr. Erwin recalls, the utility began sending representatives to rural areas, urging farmers to use more electricity when irrigating their […]
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State of the Union: Inefficient
The State of the Union is in a few hours, and folks are abuzz about what the president will say. Count me among those who are expecting a strong push for clean energy to create jobs and jump-start our economy, but I wonder if the president will spend much time discussing where we are right […]
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Is there going to be a bipartisan climate, energy security, clean air and clean energy jobs bill thi
I wouldn’t want to mislead readers into thinking that it will be easy to get a climate bill this year. Fundamentally, the politicians simply don’t understand the urgency on the climate science side, and they don’t understand it is a winning political issue with both progressives and independents in every single poll — unlike, […]
