Latest Articles

Selling out the polar bears … or smart climate politics?

In upholding the Bush-era decision on polar bears, is Obama shrewdly pushing a larger climate agenda?iStock PhotoThe Obama administration will uphold a controversial Bush-era decision that limits protection for polar bears under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today. Polar bears will continue to be considered a threatened species because their […]

The non-survivalist’s guide to stocking up for hard times

Dear Lou,As a resident of South Mississippi, I think it is officially time to stock my swine flu/tornado/hurricane/foreign invasion pantry. How do I do this without filling it with a bunch of processed crap, but still manage to stock away flavorful and nutritious staples? Kelly S. Dear Kelly,This particular swine flu pandemic–which may or may […]

Bolivia’s 18,000 year-old Chacaltaya glacier is gone

”Chacaltaya has disappeared. It no longer exists,” said Dr. Edson Ramirez, head of an international team of scientists that has studied the glacier since 1991. Like the Wicked Witch of the West, the world is melting — and fast. The University of Zurich’s World Glacier Monitoring Service reported earlier this year, “The new data continues […]

Straight talk with Congressman Doyle

“This is 2009. We’ve got 41 years in this deal, and we shouldn’t be so worried about the first 10 years.” — Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), Environment and Energy Daily, May 7, 2009 The time for climate action is now.wwarby via FlickrI had no plans yesterday morning as I woke up and turned on my […]

Waxman-Markey deal-making update: 14% cut by 2020

“We’re moving well, making a lot of progress on these issues,” Waxman said. “We’re getting very, very close.” We’re starting to hear details of the sausage-making led by chief climate chef House Energy and Commerce Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA). Needless to say, it ain’t pretty. E&E Daily (subs. req’d) reports this morning: Rep. Henry Waxman […]

Must-read (again) study: How the press bungles its coverage of climate economics

[In January, I blogged on this study by a leading journalist who documented the media’s mistakes and biases during the Lieberman-Warner debate.  Yet the media is making the exact same mistakes in the current debate over the Waxman-Markey energy and climate bill (see “The New Yorker (!) parrots right-wing talking points” and “David Broder” and […]

Secretary Chu agrees with Climate Progress and slashes hydrogen budget

“We asked ourselves, ‘Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will covert to a hydrogen car economy?’ The answer, we felt, was ‘no,’” Chu said in a briefing today. He cited several barriers, including infrastructure, development of long-lasting portable fuel cells and other problems. For years now, I have […]

I sold my car, and I couldn’t be happier … I think

It’s all yours.iStockI recently committed a subversive act: I sold my car, and I’m not buying a new one. I’d thought that I’d feel virtuous and free — and I do — but it’s turned out to be a bit more complicated than that. Never too attached to my particular car, I considered it transportation, […]

Plastic bags get a new life in Jerusalem

Read more about Eric Pallant’s West Bank wanderings in his story about keynoting a green-building conference there. There is a hamsin today, so the wind is whipping hot Saharan air and dust across the landscape. Despite the limited visibility, I can see that the cities that string south back from Ramallah, where I lectured at […]

Cap-and-trade vs. carbon tax: a bird in hand is worth two on Alpha Centauri

Tax! Cap! Tax! Cap! Pant … I find it really hard to believe, but the perennial “carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade” debate is still going on. It goes on and on and on and it never changes. It’s like everyone’s following a script now. I’ve been over this territory so many times that I hardly know […]