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U.K. subsidizes EVs, Amory Lovins talks trucks, and more green auto news

Photo by Sara Barz. Last Thursday, the UK government announced it would offer British citizens subsidies of 2,000-5,000 pounds ($2,900-7,500) for electric vehicles. To facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles, the government will set aside 20 million pounds ($30 million) to invest in electric-vehicle charging stations in city centers and high-traffic regions. This is welcome […]

Steven Chu doesn’t talk in sound bites

My oh my, how times have changed. For eight years, Washington was run by a crew that seemed to take delight in not sounding brainy, in being plain-spoken and “common-sensical.” Time after time, you’d see reporters banging their heads against the wall when President Bush or his minions would answer complex questions with non-answer answers […]

EPA announces collegiate Green Power winners; competition fails to change power buying habits

The Ivy League is the greenest of them all, according to the EPA, which today announced the college and university winners of the Green Power challenge — a competition to motivate American schools to purchase more renewable energy. Participating schools compete within their athletic conferences to purchase the most certified green power, but conferences only […]

Nearly $200 million spent on energy ads since Obama’s inauguration

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. Politico reports that interest groups and corporations have spent nearly $200 million on TV ads since President Obama’s inauguration to manipulate American energy policy reform. According to an analysis by the Campaign Media Analysis Group, $199.5 million was directed from January 20th to March 31st to television issue ads on energy, […]

Frontline explores “Poisoned Waters” of Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay

Photo: ehpien via Flickr.Views like this are one of the reasons we Seattleites suffer through our long, cloudy, rainy fallwinterspring season. But the beauty can be quite deceptive. Beneath that reflective surface flow poisoned waters, contaminated with chemicals from agricultural runoff, prescription meds, cosmetics, industrial pollutants, and more — reflections, you might say, of modern […]

LCV targets GOP Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri in new ad

The League of Conservation Voters is taking a swing at Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) for not supporting climate and energy legislation, accusing him of being short on patriotism. In a new television ad launched on Monday, LCV argues that Blunt does not believe in American ingenuity and the ability to develop new, clean energy sources, […]

The New York Times Magazine’s take on environmentalism is more interesting than most

It’s Earth Week, so the MSM is trotting out its obligatory parade of environmental coverage. The New York Times Magazine‘s green issue is better than most. Check it out: The cover story by Jon Gerter asks, Why isn’t the brain green? “Scientists are trying to figure out why it’s so hard for us to get […]

Eustace Tilley says ‘Screw Earth Day’

Ok, the New Yorker magazine’s cartoon mascot didn’t really say that. The New YorkerBut Elizabeth Kolbert, the magazine’s star journalist covering the climate crisis, has a very interesting essay on Earth Day at the front of this week’s issue. In it, she bemoans the fact that Americans seem to be unenthusiastic about the environment in […]

Vilsack names former head of Iowa’s Health and Human Services as new USDA nutrition chief

Phil Brasher at the Des Moines Register is reporting that USDA chief Tom Vilsack has named Kevin Concannon the new Undersecretary of the Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, i.e. the head of the federal food and nutrition programs — which include food stamps and the national school lunch program. Concannon ran Iowa’s Department of Health […]

The business of Earth Day

Len SauersProcter & GambleDoes Earth Day still matter? Sure, it does — absolutely. But the reason for the day should have evolved for all of us. Instead of simply planting a new seedling and moving on, we should be looking at Earth Day in a new light. Earth Day should no longer be a jump-start […]