Latest Articles

Is the U.S. consumption binge over?

It looks like U.S. carbon dioxide emissions peaked in 2007. But are we really seeing the start of an even more fundamental change in the U.S. economy, driven by the hyper-recession, team Obama and other major trends (like peak oil and global warming)? I’m very interested in what you are seeing and hearing from your […]

Waxman’s big get: VA Rep. Boucher

“Key Dem backs Waxman climate bill” is how Politico reported this afternoon’s big breaking news.  Boucher is … a coal-country Democrat whose support signals the backing of industrial state Democrats in the south and Midwest. “I intend to vote yes and I intend to encourage all other members of the committee to do the same,” […]

The Lancet’s landmark Health Commission

Lead author Anthony Costello says that failure to act will result in an intergenerational injustice, with our children and grandchildren scorning our generation for ignoring the climate change threat –- with moral outrage similar to how we today look back on those who brought in and did nothing to stop slavery. The Lancet medical journal […]

American Public Wants Climate Policy

After reading earlier this week that only 24 percent of Americans know what cap and trade is (and in the same day, that 88 million votes were cast in last week’s round of American Idol), I needed a little pick-me-up. Luckily, it arrived today in the form of new Pew survey numbers indicating strong public […]

A climate-news poem for the week of May 11

Check out last week’s lines. The climate news of this week started rolling fast and hot The papers said a memo showed the White House just was not On board with EPA now putting carbon in its pot. But it was just a spin, one on which you could not bank The sole objection really […]

Iowa City needs bike sharing

CPSC.govKnow what’s awesome? Bike sharing. Know what’s not awesome? Bike sharing programs that get wrecked by theft and general disregard. As many of them seem to do. But let’s hear it for optimism: Check out this editorial in the daily paper of the University of Iowa. It lays out plans for a bike-sharing program based […]

Chamber vs. Chamber

It’s hard to listen to someone complain about getting dumped. “Why won’t she come back? Doesn’t she know I can change? Just give me one more chance!” Lots of difficult questions with painful answers you’d really rather not get into. Which is why it was really hard to sit at the US Chamber of Commerce’s […]

Why farm-state pols rage against the EPA’s biofuel stance

His Majesty is furiousWhy are farm-state pols howling against recently proposed EPA rules on biofuel and greenhouse gas emissions? As I reported last week — echoed by Time’s Michael Grunwald — the agency made extremely generous assumptions regarding the GHG footprint of crop-based fuel. What’s more, the proposed rules actually enshrine the titanic biofuel mandates […]

House Democrat defends OMB memo source

Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) On Thursday, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), chair of the House Committee on Small Business, issued a statement responding to the controversy over an interagency memo critical of the EPA’s endangerment finding (see here, here, here): The SBA’s Office of Advocacy plays a vital role in the regulatory process. They are […]

California plans no exit from hydrogen highway

California is planning to invest millions to support the rollout of new hydrogen fueling stations. Pictured here is a station near Los Angeles Int’l Airport that was built by a partnership that included BP, Praxair and LAX.Courtesy Hydrogen Assn. Energy Secretary Steven Chu may want to slam the brakes on future hydrogen funding, but California […]