Latest Articles

California lawmakers set to take lead on enviro policy

Monday’s Washington Post notes a fact that’s been on many a green activist’s mind in the past two months: California lawmakers are set to play key roles in setting the nation’s environmental policies. The two congressional committees with the biggest say in environmental legislation are chaired by Californians (Barbara Boxer in the Senate, Henry Waxman […]

Massive coal-ash spill in Tennessee threatens water supplies and public health

More than a billion gallons of coal ash have spilled from a coal-burning power plant in eastern Tennessee since Dec. 22, when a retention wall at the plant burst. That’s billion with a “B,” which means the amount of gunk spilled is about 100 times larger than the mess from the Exxon Valdez disaster. Gray […]

S.F. Chronicle says Bush admin. is racing to open up the state’s coasts

The Interior Department is rushing to open up California’s coasts to offshore drilling exploration, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today, a move that could lead to oil derricks being built within three miles to the state’s shoreline. Government estimates show there could be 10 billion barrels of oil off of California’s entire coastline, enough to […]

Future of Obama presidency hinges on ability to adapt to changing circumstances

I share the relief many liberals feel about the election of Barack Obama. We dodged a bullet on a lot of issues by not electing McCain — inaction on global warming, escalation of wars, budget cuts in the face of a depression. But I don’t share the triumphalism, the idea that conservatives are defeated forever […]

Sen. Cornyn offers up simplistic recipe for energy security

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas says tumbling gas prices have had the bad effect of making voters less interested in tackling the nation’s energy problems. True. But the Republican lawmaker from one of the reddest states in the union says the biggest stumbling block to energy security isn’t reliance on fossil fuels and an unwillingness […]

Outgoing Greenpeace leader talks about activism, economics, and his next steps

John Passacantando. Greenpeace has earned a reputation as the environmental movement’s radical faction, and John Passacantando, executive director of the organization’s U.S. arm, has been right in the midst of the action. He took the helm of Greenpeace USA in September 2000, after the group had fallen on hard times and into deep disagreement over […]

McKinsey 2008 Research in Review: Stabilizing at 450 ppm has a net cost near zero

The McKinsey Global Institute has done some of the most comprehensive and credible recent analyses on energy efficiency potential and carbon mitigation cost curves (see here). They have summarized their work in “2008 Research in Review,” so this is a good opportunity to create one universal link for their work. One core MGI factoid you […]

Stimulus spending going to roads?

Reason to worry about the stimulus bill: Missouri’s plan to spend $750 million in federal money on highways and nothing on mass transit in St. Louis doesn’t square with President-elect Barack Obama’s vision for a revolutionary re-engineering of the nation’s infrastructure. Utah would pour 87 percent of the funds it may receive in a new […]

Oprah gained weight and confused the public about renewable energy

If I weren’t on vacation, I wouldn’t have read Oprah magazine. No really. But then I would have missed a piece of misinformation gratuitously foisted on her readers. For her legion upon legion upon legion of fans, the big news is the O has recently been losing her battle with weight (one legion does not […]

Obama’s NSA pick promotes ‘drill, baby, drill,’ clean coal, and nuclear

For a lot of the folks who voted for Barack Obama, promoting "national security" means weaning ourselves from dirty fuel sources. For the man Obama tapped as his national security advisor, James L. Jones, things aren’t so clear cut, Robert Dreyfuss reports in The Nation. Over the course of a long military career, James established […]