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Thoreau, Walden and civil disobedience in the age of climate change

On a frigid January night some years ago, a friend and I snuck into a Massachusetts state preserve, stripped naked, and charged into Walden Pond. For a few exhilarating, painful moments we swam, and I imagined some hard-to-name kinship with the pond’s most famous neighbor, the 19th century eccentric Henry David Thoreau. It was a […]

Sen. Tom Coburn has scientific document reading training

“I am not the smartest man in the world, but I have been trained to read scientific documents, and [anthropogenic climate change] is malarkey.” — Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who also explained why Jesus would oppose a public option in health care reform

Netroots Nation panel on blogging and climate change [VIDEO!!1!]

On Aug. 13, at the Netroots Nation conference for progressive bloggers, journalists, and activists, I was part of a panel called “A Warming Web: The Blogosphere and Climate Change.” Also present: Kevin Grandia of DeSmogBlog Brentin Mock of The American Prospect (and elsewhere) Brad Johnson of Think Progress Kate Sheppard of pure awesomeness Tim Lange, […]

Hollywood’s next green generation

We know. There’s nothing green about owning a 20,000-square foot house, or flying in a private jet, or stocking a wardrobe the size of a studio apartment. Famous actors indisputably leave a much larger carbon footprint than the average citizen. But their celebrity gives them a far greater ability to influence others, so their efforts […]

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 […]