Latest Articles

Will a greener White House complex mean a more productive president?

Arrrrr ye gettin’ more done now?Official White House photostream via flickr[UPDATE: A White House spokesperson called me to clarify that it’s parts of the White House complex, not the White House itself, that will be seeking LEED certification. Like many others in the blogosphere, I got swept up in the excitement of imagining hemp sheets […]

Climate change is a poverty issue

“Where are you from?”  I was often asked that question while growing up in Southern Indiana in the 1970s.  I didn’t look like anyone else in my white hometown and people had a hard time believing I belonged there. I hated the question, but for them it was a polite way of dealing with their […]

WVU Honors Massey and Murray Over Crandall Canyon Miners?

This might be the shameless story of the week: Either that, or West Virginia University president James P. Clements has a lot of explaining to do–especially to the widows and children of the deceased miners in Crandall Canyon, Utah, and to the sick children and ailing communities in the Coal River Valley of West Virginia. […]

Report Pushes for More Research Investment and New National Institutes of Energy

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and leading DC-based think tank Third Way are the latest political figures to issue a call for significantly increased public investment to catalyze clean energy innovation. The Ohio Senator and the moderate progressive think tank joined the Breakthrough Institute today to unveil a new report calling for both the creation of […]

White House hosts farmers market

Michelle Obama at White House Farmer’s MarketPhoto: Obama Foodorama Cross-posted from Obama Foodorama. Despite rain and cold temperatures, today’s opening of the new White House Farmers Market drew quite a crowd. “I’ve never seen so many people so excited about fruits and vegetables!” First Lady Michelle Obama told the crowd gathered a few blocks from […]

China is leaving the U.S. in the dust as it surges ahead on clean energy

Even as China overtakes the U.S. in the dubious category of “world’s leading greenhouse gas producer,” it is also well ahead of the U.S. in developing the technologies and policies to solve the problem — and selling those solutions to us at massive profits which could have been ours. On a recent trip, I saw […]

Burning Embers climate design contest has a winner [UPDATED]

Update! The people have spoken; we have have a winner. Presenting the nifty Tracing Emissions mobile (and a gallery of entries). Photo courtesy spike55151 via FlickStory: In June I wrote about Burning Embers, an art and design competition that invited students to create illustrations that reflected the causes and effects of climate change. The idea […]

CBS’s Declan McCullagh promotes another false CEI attack on clean energy reform

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. According to Declan McCullagh, a libertarian blogger who works for CBS Interactive, secret Obama administration documents reveal that the cost of clean energy cap-and-trade legislation would be $1,761 per household — despite official estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Energy Information Administration of about a […]

The Climate Post: Climate debates re-emerge after week-long obscurity

First Things First: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) turned heads this week when he suggested to reporters that the calendar is so full, a vote on climate change legislation might wait until next year. His comments were simple and descriptive, “We still have next year to complete things if we have to,” but drew […]

Too Good to be True?

Global climate change is a serious environmental threat, and sound public policies are needed to address it effectively and sensibly. There is now significant interest and activity within both the U.S. Administration and the U.S. Congress to develop a meaningful national climate policy in this country.  (If you’re interested, please see some of my previous […]