Latest Articles

This White House science adviser thinks America should embrace nuclear power

There are 104 commercial nuclear power stations in the United States today, supplying about 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. No new commercial reactors have been licensed here since 1973. And the last commercial plant to come online, Watts Bar in Tennessee, powered up more than a decade ago, in 1996. That all needs to […]

The best U.S. transit systems you never knew existed

When it comes to public transit in the U.S., there are certain predictable all-stars: the Metro in Washington, D.C., is convenient, efficient, and clean. The anthropomorphically nicknamed El and BART in Chicago and San Francisco are legendary. And everyone knows it’s easier to navigate New York City without a car than with one. But what […]

The case for carbon speed limits

If the earth was a car, it would come with an operating instructions not to drive faster than 350 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, like an unruly teenager, humanity – with the United States in the drivers seat – has already revved up the engine and broken all speed limits – […]

Hydrogen fuel cell cars are a dead end from a technological, practical, and climate perspective

Using fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen from zero-carbon sources such as renewable power or nuclear energy has a cost of avoided carbon dioxide of more than $600 a metric ton, which is more than a factor of ten higher than most other strategies being considered today…. So I wrote in a 2005 journal article, “The […]

“We will have a bill,” Pelosi vows — several House Republicans agree

“We will have a bill,” the California Democrat said in a brief interview today after her weekly press conference. So Greenwire (subs. req’d) reports this afternoon, for those who had any remaining doubts about whether the Waxman-Markey clean energy and climate bill would pass the House (see also Boucher predicts “I think we’ll do far […]

Waxman-Markey, meet House Ag Committee

House Ag Committee: Like a combine thundering through a field.By all accounts, Thursday’s House Ag Committee hearing on the Waxman-Markey climate-change legislation went as expected: angry men blustered and fulminated and generally vented spleen. (See the Wall Street Journal’s coverage here and here; Farm Policy blog’s summary; and here’s links to the testimony of the […]

Globesity: How climate change and obesity draw from the same roots

Photo illustration by Tom Twigg/GristYou’ve heard all the reasons before: We drive too much. We eat too much meat and processed food. We spend too much time with plugged-in devices—computers, TVs, air conditioners. But what problem are we talking about–climate change, or the worldwide rise in obesity? Both, according to Globesity: A Planet Out of […]

Joe Barton not interested in moral implications of climate change

On Tuesday, I attended a hearing of the House Energy & Commerce Committee on “Allowance Allocation Policies in Climate Legislation.” By and large, the testimony came from economists and executives from affected industries. But there was one exception: Rev. Dr. Maria Castellanos of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Castellanos was there to make a […]

Obama admin will scrutinize mountaintop mining, but not stop it

The Obama administration on Thursday announced new steps to reduce the environmental damage from mountaintop-removal (MTR) mining, a controversial and highly destructive practice used to extract coal from Appalachia. Activists from the region and the environmental community say that’s a nice first step, but they’re disappointed that the admin isn’t planning to rein the practice […]

Ditch ‘warming’ and start talking ‘deteriorating atmosphere,’ PR firm says

How to make an energy plan more appetizing.The non-profit PR shop ecoAmerica finally released the findings of its public opinion research today, bringing a trove of information about how on-the-fence Americans respond to different messages about climate change and energy. The firm conducted an impressive amount of research in February through March—focus groups, a phone […]