Latest Articles

Reports highlight need to support clean water projects in poor countries

The failure of governments in both rich and poor countries to prioritize basic sanitation is killing thousands of children every day, according to two reports released today by WaterAid and PATH. And a third report released yesterday suggests that the global economic crisis may increase the death rate, at least in Africa. All three reports […]

Dear Mr. President: Declare Aug. 3 as Armistice Day

On the upcoming anniversary of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, President Barack Obama has the opportunity to declare an armistice in the polarized Appalachian coalfields, mend a 30-year mining policy of betrayal, and call an end to the most divisive and egregious human rights and environmental violation sanctioned by our federal government. On […]

‘Obama White House’ not challenging EPA endangerment finding [UPDATES]

[UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF POST] The AP has what looks like a blockbuster story today: “White House memo challenges EPA finding on warming.” The Obama White House bashing the EPA process for regulating greenhouse gases! That’s huge! Only the AP got the story completely wrong. Here’s the backstory: Today, Republican senators released a memo that […]

Crist, a green-leaning moderate Republican, is running for U.S. Senate

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist declared his candidacy for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, aiming to help recover an increasingly endangered species — the moderate Republican — in increasingly hostile habitat — Washington, D.C. Crist is running for the seat now held by fellow Republican Mel Martinez, who intends to leave the Senate when his first term […]

Barton worries that EPA will regulate runners

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) is concerned about the plight of marathon runners under a cap-and-trade plan. No, we’re not making this up. Barton, the ranking Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee and a vocal climate skeptic, told conservative magazine Newsmax in an interview published on Monday that he is worried that regulating greenhouse-gas emissions […]

10 ways to change the world through social media

Citizen journalism, open government, status updates, community building, information sharing, crowdsourcing, and the election of a President. Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Max Gladwell, a blog specializing in social media and green living. Our children will inherit a world profoundly changed by the combination of technology and humanity that is social media. […]

Drought, fish, and our fruit-and-veg problem

High and dryIn the United States, when people say “eat your veggies,” they are essentially urging you to take a bite out of California — or, more to the point, take a a big swig of its increasingly scarce water supply. How much do we rely on California for fruits and veg? With its rich […]

Changes in the sun are not causing global warming

A forthcoming study in Geophysical Research Letters (subs. req’d) finds what countless other studies in the past decade have found — changes in the sun are not responsible for the global warming in recent decades. In particular, the study debunks the notion that changes in cloud cover driven by cosmic rays are a major factor […]

Does the public need to understand cap-and-trade?

A new Rasmussen poll shows that just 24 percent of people know what “cap-and-trade” is. Even that is an optimistic gloss: in fact, only 24 percent of people know that cap-and-trade is meant to address environmental issues. Some 29 percent think it’s a new Wall Street regulation; 30 percent have no idea. Professional enviros seem […]

‘Sectoral carbon’ … Eh? Please define

At times certain words become quite fashionable, though nobody is quite sure why. Everyone wants to use them, even as they can have different meanings for different people. In the discussion of climate change in the United States, “sectoral” seems to have achieved this particular honor over the past few months. Before we start, let’s […]