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Friday music blogging: Monsters of Folk

Several years ago — I think around 2004 or 2005 — I caught a show in Seattle that I figured was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes), Jim James (of My Morning Jacket), M. Ward (solo artist and She & Him), and Mike Mogis (who played on and helped produce records from all […]

WWF finds tons of new species about to be wiped out by climate change [SLIDESHOW]

We’ve got some good news, some less-than-awesome news, and some killer eye candy. The good news is that 163 wild-and-crazy new species of animals and plants were discovered last year in a single jungle-y region — known as the Greater Mekong — which stretches through six countries, from China’s Tibetan Platueau all the way to […]

G20 cans fossil-fuel subsidies, but fails to make other climate-conserving moves

Let man tear asunder.On Friday afternoon, President Barack Obama formally announced that the world’s 20 major developed and developing nations had agreed to gradually eliminate fossil-fuel subsidies.  It was the only climate-specific policy directive to come out of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Pittsburgh, and it fell far short in the view of […]

Why the EPA ‘dissenter’ story needs to die

More on the spin cycle.Courtesy katiew via FlickrSay I’m a high-school drama teacher. My education and career experience are in teaching drama. I happen to have a side interest in mathematics and carry some unconventional theories about math. I tell the math department head at my high school that I want a say in drafting […]

Climate protesters hit the streets in Pittsburgh during G20 meeting

Young activists from the Avaaz Action Factory joined the mass “People’s March” into downtown Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon, not far from the site of the G20 Summit, after holding their own climate-focused march in the morning.  Their Twitter-friendly slogan is “G20 Climate FAIL,” criticizing what they say has been a lack of action toward a […]

Opportunity, fully funded

Today, Green For All and Living Cities unveiled the Energy Efficiency Opportunity Fund alongside President Clinton, at the closing session of Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting. The groundbreaking fund will finance innovative efforts that create jobs and cut energy costs for low-income families through energy-efficiency building retrofits.
 I am proud to say that in addition […]

Does Schwarzenegger care more about tea partiers or the planet?

Like any Hollywood actor, and like any politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to talk a good game. And on climate, he talks a lot. He loves to promote inconsequential gab-fests like the Governors Global Summit on Climate Change. But when the rubber hits the road, will he actually, you know, do anything about it? Whether a […]

Coal's Ash is On the Line

This post was co-written by Lyndsay Moseley, Washington Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. For those who remember the tragic TVA coal ash spill of December 2008 and wonder if such a disaster could happen in your town, there have been lots of important recent developments. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started […]

Ontario launches comprehensive system of feed-in tariffs

Ontario, on Thursday, launched the province’s long-awaited program of feed-in tariffs in response to its ground-breaking Green Energy Act. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman, and Minister of the Environment John Gerretsen made the announcement against the iconic backdrop of Toronto’s cooperatively-owned wind turbine. This was the last in a […]

Illinois points the way to food system reform

Not your father’s Corn Belt. This development in Illinois managed to pass somewhat under the radar, probably because it took place during the dog days of summer. But it’s still a big deal — Illinois has a new law that starts building the infrastructure for a real regional food system: The legislation establishes a council […]