Latest Articles
-
![]()
![]()
EPA punts on raising ethanol ‘blend wall’
I have been following the Great Ethanol Blend Wall fight for some time. In a nutshell, ethanol companies have been struggling mightily during the recession. In response, industry group Growth Energy petitioned the EPA to allow gasoline to contain up to 15 percent ethanol rather than the current 10 percent. This demand also had the […]
-
![]()
![]()
December 19 — the day after COP15
Tens of thousands of modern-day crusaders, charlatans, Nobel laureates, CEOs, quick-buck artists, earnest politicians, and assorted movie extras of every conceivable socio-political-ethnic-economic background will descend on Copenhagen for the next three weeks to participate in an orgy of carbon-bashing and flag-waving. The goal will be to agree on a blueprint — not quite the precise […]
-
Lomborg v. Monbiot: liveblogging the Munk debate on climate change
Editor’s note: The chat’s now over, but you can replay it in full. Today I’ll be liveblogging a debate on how the world should respond to climate change. Arguing for a vigorous response will be Elizabeth May, head of Canada’s Green Party, and noted author/thinker George Monbiot. Arguing for giving climate change a low priority, […]
-
![]()
![]()
John Cornyn (R-Texas)
Sen. John Cornyn is expected to vote against a climate bill, and that’s confirmed in this letter he wrote to a constituent. He argues that the Kerry-Boxer climate bill would “create a massive new government bureaucracy, raise energy prices, increase taxes, and send American jobs overseas.” Dear [Constituent]: Thank you for contacting me regarding a […]
-
![]()
![]()
Never-give-up fighting spirit: lessons from a grandchild
Such negative questions and attitudes are increasing. How refreshing, on cold, windy Thanksgiving Plus One Day, which we spend with our children and grandchildren, when I went outside to shoot baskets with 5-year-old Connor. Connor is very bright, but needs work on his hand-to-eye coordination. I set the basket at a convenient height for him, […]
-
Prelude to COP15: Climate justice actions sweep the U.S. before Copenhagen talks
Tuesday in the U.S., climate justice activists turned up the street heat to corporations in the financial and energy sectors most responsible for the climate crisis. Initiated by the Mobilization for Climate Justice and the Climate Pledge of Resistance, the day of action came a week before social movements converge in Copenhagen at the U.N. […]
-
![]()
![]()
Do diesel-based farmers dream of electric tractors?
Writer George Monbiot’s recent Peak Oil article entitled “If Nothing Else, Save Farming” included this comment: There are no obvious barriers to the mass production of electric tractors and combine harvesters: the weight of the batteries and an electric vehicle’s low-end torque are both advantages for tractors. I read this and immediately tweeted the question […]
-
BPA Babies and Cash Registers
We’ve known for a long time that bisphenol-A (BPA) is bad for us. Study after study shows the ill-effects of this widely-used industrial chemical on our bodies–and in particular, on developing babies’ bodies. The list is pretty sobering: BPA’s been linked to breast cancer in women, brain damage in children, obesity, heart disease, diabetes… Two […]
-
Prologue to Copenhagen
As a prologue to the COP 15 in Copenhagen, protesters took to the streets across the country in a national day of climate justice action. From die-ins, to fasts, to streets protests, to locked down acts of civil disobedience, citizens groups called for a halt to new coal-fired plant construction, the abolishment of mountaintop removal […]
-
![]()
![]()
Making buildings more efficient: It helps to understand human behavior
If I told you how much energy your neighbors use on average, and whether you fell above or below that average, would that induce you to save more energy? What if, depending on whether you came in above or below average, you got an emoticon on your energy bill? Say, a smiley face if you […]
