Latest Articles

Vancouver showcases preparations for 2010 Winter Olympics

For the next two days I’ll be reporting from Vancouver, British Columbia, where it’s hard to walk two blocks without running into a construction project related to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Eleven months from the opening ceremonies, Olympics buzz is fairly palpable, with games-related ads on the airwaves, heaps of Olympics gear […]

Obama gives best clean energy and global warming solutions job to Cathy Zoi

Cathy Zoi, CEO of Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) under Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Zoi has a unique combination of expertise in clean energy and high level federal government experience — she was Chief of […]

Obama considering ‘cash-for-clunkers’ program

President Obama discusses the latest efforts to aide the U.S. auto industry. (White House photo) Did President Obama endorse a “cash for clunkers” program today? Maybe. In detailing the government’s latest efforts to shore up General Motors and the U.S. auto industry, Obama said this: Finally, several members of Congress have proposed an even more […]

Umbra on composting mucus and other conundra

Dear Umbra, My girlfriend and I are having a bit of a disagreement. When she is in the kitchen she uses paper towels to wipe her nose. She then proceeds to put the used paper towel into the compost bin in the kitchen. I’m sure that the microbes and worms in the compost pile could […]

A mandarin’s plea for climate action

New Year’s Day is not, I suppose, everyone’s idea of the best time to receive a sobering message. But like it or not, this year it happened to me. The message that popped into my inbox, unannounced and unexpected, would have brought even the most hungover dreamer smartly back to reality. “Today,” it opened uncompromisingly, […]

Obama calls for climate summit of the world’s biggest polluters

President Obama on Saturday announced that the United States is initiating a Major Economies Forum that will focus on energy and climate change, an attempt to bring the world’s biggest polluters together to discuss a path forward. “The Major Economies Forum will facilitate a candid dialogue among key developed and developing countries, help generate the […]

New business coalition plans to flex its muscle on climate policy

Nike, Starbucks, eBay, and a handful of other big-name U.S. companies are putting forward a climate agenda that’s just as ambitious as that of many environmentalists, if not more so. The new coalition — Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy, or BICEP for short — grew out of a partnership between Nike and Ceres, […]

Jack Spadaro Needs to Rescue MSHA and OSM

Jack Spadaro is a singular figure in the mining world. With nearly 40 years of experience as a mine safety engineer and expert, Spadaro is one of those very rare government regulators who is revered alike by miners and coalfield citizens for his meticulous commitment to safety, health and environmental standards in the coalfields. On […]

Solar roadways

Randomly stumbled across this Solar Roadways idea yesterday. Doubt it will ever happen, but it’s a pretty nifty notion. AutoblogGreen also has a couple of posts on it: an introduction and an update from last year. See also Green Car Congress.

Doom, lobbyists, hypocrisy, and coal, oh my!

• Scientists now say that even stabilizing at a global average temperature level of 2C above pre-industrial — a commonly agreed upon goal that looks increasingly remote — will give us only a 50/50 chance of avoiding catastrophe. Awesome! • Let me officially become the last person on the internet to link to the excellent […]