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Me, at the EE Global Forum

As we speak, I am à Paris, attending EE Global (aka the Energy Efficiency Global Forum & Exposition), organized by the Alliance to Save Energy, self-billed as the first international conference entirely devoted to energy efficiency (well, second — the first EEGFE took place in D.C. in 2007). As my devoted readers will no doubt […]

Seattle’s Ferry Farm Stand brings fresh produce to hungry commuters

Photo: tobiaseigen via Flickr.It’s a mid-week summer evening, and you’re making the commute back home to Bainbridge Island wondering what’s for dinner. You’re craving fresh, local produce, but you’re on a boat (you’re on a boat, everybody look at you!). Lucky for you, this is a dinner dilemma no longer: Starting June 25, the Ferry […]

Will Sen. Rockefeller Snub or Praise Goldman Prize Winner?

Celebrations took place around the globe last week for the winners of the Goldman Prize, the largest award in the world given for environmental activism by grassroots leaders. One person is selected from each continent to receive this huge award–the Nobel Prize for today’s green innovators and brave citizens who are willing to risk their […]

One simple change that could vastly improve Waxman-Markey

Certainly the weakest part of Waxman-Markey is the 2 billion rip-offsets that polluters are allowed to purchase each year in place of reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions.  After all, total U.S. GHGs in 2005 were about 7.2 billion tons. Rip-offsets deserve to be called rip-offsets because it is far from clear how many of […]

Obama’s first 100 days make — and may remake — history

The media just keeps missing — or messing up — the story of the century. Future historians will inevitably judge all 21st-century presidents on just two issues: global warming and the clean energy transition. If the world doesn’t stop catastrophic climate change — Hell and High Water — then all presidents, indeed, all of us, […]

Charles and Benedict chat about climate

Earlier today, Prince Charles and Pope Benedict XVI met to discuss their shared environmental concerns, with Camilla looking on. With press reports so far scant on details, we are left to imagine the proceedings. We couldn’t find a free photo of the prince shaking hands with His Holiness, so we’re settling for a Flickr shot […]

OMG, it’s DIY GMOs

I learned of a newly popular hobby for the masses thanks to a recent edition of Food Chain Radio podcast: amateur gene tinkerers. It’s such an obvious plot for a Michael Crichton book, featuring an innocent experiment wiping the planet’s motherboard. Why let corporations and academics in their ivory towers have all the fun? Just […]

McCain wants a climate policy that benefits the rich

I see John McCain is upset by the fact that Obama wants to auction 100% of cap-and-trade permits. He wants the vast bulk of the permits to be given away to businesses. There are lots of complicated, obscure issues around carbon policy, but this is not one of them. Let’s be very very clear about […]

60 Minutes on coal: Dancing around the question

60 Minutes had a long segment on the problem of coal this weekend. Watch: A couple thoughts on this. First, it’s worth stepping back and noting how far the discussion has come. The coal industry probably views this segment as disastrous — it takes for granted that climate change is happening and that coal is […]

Ask Umbra on light timers

Q. Dear Umbra, So I’ve gotten a lot better at turning out the lights when I’m not in the room. I’ve still got some work to do in terms of turning off power strips when I’m not using appliances though. I was thinking about this last night and I remembered this contraption at my grandparents’ […]