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A crucial climate vote lost with Ted Kennedy’s death

Ted KennedyPhoto: jonathanpbergerSen. Edward M. Kennedy’s environmental legacy was remarkable, wide-ranging, and not all roses. Joe Romm’s got an early look at his record. But there’s one clear and simple impact of Kennedy’s death late Tuesday night: The push for a climate-change bill in the Senate lost a reliable supporter. That push needs absolutely every […]

Blood, sweat, and vision: The JP Green House in its ugly duckling phase

Innovation in progress. Excuse our dust. For more images from the JP Green House, visit Leise Jones Photography.I was bringing two new friends down the street for a tour of the JP Green House last week. “Now prepare yourselves,” I warned, as I always do, “it’s not bright shiny green yet. You’ll need to use […]

‘Monkey trial’ petition tells EPA to ‘eliminate the taint’

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. Calling for the “Scopes trial of the 21st century,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has delivered a petition [PDF] to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a public hearing on the EPA’s proposed global warming endangerment finding. The petition, acquired by the Wonk Room, claims that scientific research demonstrates global warming […]

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, champion of the environment and clean energy, dies at 77

Kennedy, the last surviving brother in a unique American political dynasty and one of the most influential senators in history, died late Tuesday night at his summer home on Cape Cod after a 15-month battle with brain cancer. He was 77. He was a great champion of progressive causes, and his death is a great […]

Sen. Landrieu’s plan to export Louisiana’s coastal destruction to Florida

While Louisiana struggles to restore coastal wetlands ravaged in large part by decades of oil and gas drilling, its senior senator is leading the effort to lift the ban on drilling off Florida’s Panhandle. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) is the lone co-sponsor of legislation sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to open up new […]

Chuck Grassley does not believe in the threat of anthropogenic climate change

Chuck Grassley In a Tuesday conference call with Iowa agricultural reporters, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) offered some state-of-the-art Republican doubletalk on climate change (maybe he read it in Glenn Beck’s book). This is worth reading in full, in part to admire the blithely inconsistent muddle of it all, but also in part to marvel at […]

Is it time to get rid of phone books?

When was the last time you looked up something in the phone book? What did you do the last time you got a free phone book dropped off on your doorstep–did you recycle it? If you’re like most people these days, your answers to those questions are probably “I don’t remember” and “No.” WhitePages, an […]

EPA: Chemicals found in Wyo. drinking water might be from fracking

This story was written by ProPublica reporter Abrahm Lustgarten. Federal environment officials investigating drinking water contamination near the ranching town of Pavillion, Wyo., have found that at least three water wells contain a chemical used in the natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing. Scientists also found traces of other contaminants, including oil, gas or […]

Tell USDA to add urban farming to the Ag Census! Deadline is Friday.

If you care about eating healthy food, you are probably already hard at work to build a better food supply for yourself.  You already know that raising food in our cities will be increasingly important.  Yet getting political support for this requires making a convincing case, and this means having compelling numbers.  The federal Census […]

US Chamber of Commerce calls for ‘Scopes Monkey Trial’ on climate change

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce — the 97-year-old organization that bills itself as the “voice of business” — wants to put climate science on trial. As the Environmental Protection Agency nears a final ruling that manmade global warming endangers the public health and welfare, “the chamber will tell the EPA in […]