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A scary photo for Halloween

If only they’d known how right they were … Washington State Historical Society Thanks to reader Bill Broadhead for digging this gem out of the Washington State Historical Society’s excellent digital collections. Here’s the full description: “A rectangular piece of coal in a wagon is on display in the middle of Pacific Avenue in Tacoma […]

American stimulus funds benefiting foreign wind energy firms

The Investigative Reporting Workshop released a report on Thursday detailing how one of the first big chunks of money for clean energy under the stimulus package is actually being spent. Our findings (I was the lead reporter on the story) can be found here. Most interestingly, we found that the program, which is designed to […]

Friday music blogging: Phosphorescent

Phosphorescent is a low-key, low-fi indie folk band along the lines of Iron & Wine or Bon Iver — your basic haunting, echo-y, twangy music for bearded folk. They’ve never really broken out, but if you’re among the bearded, trust me, they will richly reward your attention. Their new album is called To Willie, and […]

Clean Energy Forums are popping up in target states across the country. What about your state?

From coast to coast, teams of young volunteers are organizing Clean Energy Forums.  As part of Focus the Nation‘s campaign Community and the Road to Copenhagen, young organizers are engaging their communities for a day of climate dialogue and reaching out to their senators to join the conversations.  Through this nationwide effort, we hope to […]

Republicans threaten to boycott Kerry-Boxer markup over substanceless procedural complaint

Darren covered this over at ClimateWire, but I’m not sure a straight news story can really capture the toxicity and absurdity of what the Inhofe is planning to do on the climate bill next week. Some background: when the Waxman-Markey chairman’s mark was released, the EPA undertook an exhaustive five-week analysis of its economic impacts. […]

Memo to Baucus: Your state’s trees are being ravaged

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Tuesday he has “serious reservations” about climate legislation unveiled by his Democratic colleagues, signaling trouble for a proposal that is stronger in certain respects than a bill passed by the House. In an effort to inject drama and conflict into a hearing that lack both, the Washington Street Journal and […]

N.Y. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand answers Grist’s questions on the Kerry-Boxer bill

Kirsten Gillibrand was in the midst of her second term in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving New York’s 20th District, when Gov. David Paterson selected her to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate. (Clinton, you’ll recall, was chosen by Obama to serve as secretary of state.) Gillibrand will serve in the Senate at […]

When will we stop paying the hidden fossil fuel tax?

Last week, the nation suffered from major sticker shock when we learned that our use of fossil fuels comes with a hidden price tag of $120 billion per year.  Thanks to the results of the National Research Council’s report on energy and the environment, some of the extra costs of dirty energy were exposed.  (Full […]

The most frightening story this Halloween is … pumpkintop removal

I want to draw attention to one of the gravest — but least publicized — environmental crimes of our times. It is one of brutal violence, utter waste, and total disregard for the planet’s resources. Millions of unwitting Americans are complicit in the destruction each year, as evidenced by the burning lights spread across the […]

The True Impact of Coal Mining

We learned with sadness this week that blasting has begun on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia, site of a long battle between Massey Energy and local residents who want the mountain to be a site for 200 wind turbines instead of mountaintop removal coal mining. Massey has ignored these pleas, despite research showing that […]