Latest Articles

Umbra on the other greenhouse gases

Dear Umbra, I have heard and am beginning to understand one of the biggest movements of social change occurring right now: we need to reduce our carbon footprint. I have also heard that while carbon is our most abundant greenhouse gas byproduct (by way of the burning of fossil fuels) other gases, such as methane, […]

Steven Chu chats with Charlie Rose

Chu starts about 21 minutes in: [vodpod id=Video.1420705&w=425&h=350&fv=docId%3D-8696557984325524065%26playerMode%3Dsimple%26hl%3Den]

The U.S. requires a strong climate bill to remain competitive

Contrary to popular belief, a strong climate bill will not harm U.S. competitiveness. Quite the reverse — it is our only hope for restoring U.S. leadership in key job creating industries such as solar energy, wind power, and automobile manufacturing, which was lost in large part because of conservative orthodoxy (see “U.S. left in the […]

I-5 to become eco-haven?

Rocket scientists Governors Gregoire, Kulongoski, and Schwarzenegger are supporting a brilliant idea to grab some of the stimulus funds. From a Seattle Times article that garnered 140 comments: The three governors envision a series of alternative fueling stations stretching from the Canadian border to Mexico, creating what has been dubbed a “green freeway.” They also […]

Scientists and science writers take Will to task in the WaPo

I didn’t follow the George Will Climate Crank Controversy very closely on this blog. You can read a comprehensive play-by-play from Adam Siegel here. The good news is, two new shots were fired today by the forces of sanity, in the pages of the Washington Post, which hosted Will’s original idiocy. The first is an […]

If sticks don’t work, try carrots

For an $80 billion program, President Barack Obama’s cap-and-trade proposal is very short on specifics. His budget plan [PDF] provides only the briefest policy rationale for cap-and-trade, describing it as “a policy approach that dramatically reduced acid rain at much lower costs than the traditional government regulations and mandates of the past.” The acid-rain program’s […]

Friday music blogging: K’naan

K’naan is a hip-hop MC out of Toronto, Ontario. (That’s in Canada!) He was born and raised in Somalia, in truly horrific conditions of war and deprivation. He learned to rap — before he even learned English — by imitating the flow of American rappers on bootlegged CDs. His 2008 debut album, The Dusty Foot […]

What works for telemarketers might work for junk-mailers

I have a foolproof plan to fight spam: if the government gave out Viagra for free, then most spammers would quickly go out of business as their market would be undercut. Foolproof. Our friends at ForestEthics are trying to do the same for junk mail, except they have an even better plan: a Do Not […]

Fox News story advocates for reducing meat consumption to combat global warming

This week, as I sorted through my inbox and overflowing number of “google alerts,” one particular story from Fox News caught my attention. In a decidedly personal yet informative piece, Andy Kroll of Fox News outlined the reasons why he was going to reduce his meat consumption by 75 percent in the upcoming months. The […]

Major survey finds overwhelming public support for action on global warming and clean energy

Yale and George Mason Universities surveyed 2,164 Americans last fall about their “climate change beliefs, attitudes, policy preferences, and actions.” Details will be posted at midnight Tuesday here. Here is a first look: 92 percent supported more funding for research on renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power; 85 percent supported tax rebates […]