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Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act an improvement over House bill on offsets

With respect to offsets, the Kerry-Boxer bill is a distinct improvement over the ACES [Waxman-Markey]. It allows a relatively strong approach to offset integrity, avoiding negative social or environmental effects, and facilitating possible integration with other systems. It also addresses some issues that will be important to the functioning of a trading market, but still […]

Nike runs fast and loud from the incredible, shrinking U.S. Chamber Board

Nike has put on its running shoes and bolted from the incredible, shrinking industry group’s board, like so many others (see “Will last company to leave the Chamber’s Boardroom please turn off the lights!” and “Nation’s largest utility pulls the plug on the Chamber over climate denial“).  Think Progress has the details: In the past […]

Big coal gone wild: The sequel

It wasn’t enough for FACES — the bogus Big Coal front created by a Washington, D.C. lobby firm — to be pilloried on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Daily Show for using fake iStock photos in their ads. Now comes Big Coal Gone Wild: The Sequel. While a broad and peaceful national movement rooted […]

Global warming negotiations with 21 (or so) negotiation days left

You know the saying: “it’s the little things that matter.”  Well you can’t really take that saying too literally when discussing global warming pollution as it is the big things that ultimately matter, such as: pollution reduction cuts, assistance for developing countries in cutting emissions further, and support for the most vulnerable countries to adapt […]

Ask Umbra on replacing hot-water heaters

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, We are a family of five, with three little boys growing bigger every day. Which is the better environmental investment for our family: to replace our existing hot water heater with a solar model, or to switch to an on-demand, “instantaneous” hot water system? Thanks! Gillian and […]

Gandhi today

On Oct. 2, 140 years ago, Mohandus Gandhi was born in Gujarat province in India. I didn’t learn this from the New York Times, CNN, or any other mainstream media source. I didn’t learn about it from progressive media outlets, although it is very possible that one or more of them publicized it and I […]

Our parks in peril

Tonya Ricks for Grist Mount Rainier National Park (Wash.) – The home of the Cascade Mountain range’s highest peak (and its glaciers) is in danger from heavy rain and floods, overcrowding, and loss of snow/ice, water, plants, and animals. Glacier National Park (Mont.) – This once glacier-packed park is in danger of melting due to […]

Ahnold promises ‘action’ at California climate summit

Photo: Peter GrigsbyGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his best buddies from around the world flexed their muscles at the second annual Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles this week. Actor Harrison Ford, chimp expert Jane Goodall, and a slate of A-list dignitaries from 70 countries packed a Century City luxury hotel to debate how best to […]

The Yes Men reveal their next big stunt

Grist catches up with The Yes Men — those high-minded pranksters behind the faux climate-week New York Post and the notorious SurvivaBall — to talk about runaway climate change, that Big Apple arrest, their plans for Copenhagen, and their latest movie, The Yes Men Fix the World, which comes out on October 7. To get […]

Bangkok, Day 5: Breaking News: Forests do not naturally grow in straight lines

Forest negotiations recently have been featuring a lot of talk about something called “sustainable forest management,” or in climate policy parlance, SFM.  Because it contains the word “sustainable,” this term conjures up images of nice standing forests, perhaps occasionally harvested by indigenous peoples to make “sustainable” furniture or artisanal paper for those of us in […]