Latest Articles

General Motors to start repaying government loans

The NY Times story has one of the true glass-is-half-full headlines of our times: G.M., Citing Progress, Reports Loss of $1.15 Billion But these days, you take good news where you can find it, and the rest of the story is certainly a pleasant surprise:   General Motors, whose very survival was in doubt this […]

Winning the clean energy race: a new strategy for American leadership

By Teryn Norris & Devon Swezey You know the world is changing when the president’s first trip to Asia is defined by a new U.S. foreign policy dubbed “strategic reassurance” – convincing China that the United States has no intention of containing its growing power or endangering its foreign investments. As the New York Times […]

So long and thanks for all the fish

There was some hope recently that the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the organization charged with managing the Atlantic tuna fishery, would listen to its own scientists and ban commercial Atlantic bluefin tuna fishing so that the species might survive. Nope: Environmentalists on Sunday warned bluefin tuna was on its way to […]

Solar’s rapid evolution makes energy planners rethink the grid

Photo courtesy OZinOH via Flickr California’s ambitious goal of obtaining a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 has spawned a green energy boom with thousands of megawatts of solar, wind, and biomass power plants planned for … the middle of nowhere. And therein lies the elephant in the green room: transmission. Connecting […]

The road to Copenhagen

Subtle but important shifts in global warming positions announced by U.S. & China

China and the U.S. announced on Tuesday a Joint Statement (available here) and a package of agreed actions on clean energy. This meeting between these two countries that account for around 40 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels couldn’t come at a more critical time in efforts to secure a strong international […]

U.S. and China announce plan for collaboration on clean energy and climate change

Cross-posted from Climate Progress. Co-written by Julian L. Wong of the Center for American Progress. Obama and President Hu Jintao together at a reception before the formal state dinner in Beijing.Photo: whitehouse.govTuesday, a comprehensive plan for U.S.-China cooperation on clean energy and climate change was announced in Beijing by President Obama and President Hu Jintao. […]

Time to Speak Out Against the Biggest Polluters

Wednesday and Thursday of this week are big days if you live in Arlington, Virginia, or Chicago, Illinois. Those are the two days of public hearings on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Big Polluters” rule. But of course, this whole issue is huge whether you live in Virginia, Illinois, or anywhere else in the U.S. […]

New York passes clean energy financing bill

The New York State Legislature has not, of late, been able to agree on anything — the budget, same-sex marriage, and even, for awhile, which party was in the majority. But there is one thing they are unanimous about: clean energy finanancing. Last night, by a vote of 192-0, the famously combative body passed S66004-a/A […]

George Voinovich (R-Ohio) [UPDATED]

George Voinovich At a hearing on the Kerry-Boxer climate bill in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Nov. 3, Sen. George Voinovich was the only Republican to show up (for a whole 15 minutes!). He explained that Republicans were boycotting the proceedings because they wanted to wait until the EPA completed a more […]