Latest Articles

The ‘invisible hand’ is blind to climate externalities and the value of natural resources

When Nicholas Stern, former chief economist at the World Bank, released his ground-breaking study in late 2006 on the future costs of climate change, he talked about a massive market failure. He was referring to the failure of the market to incorporate the climate change costs of burning fossil fuels. The costs, he said, would […]

Attempting to un-vex the vexing subject of cap-and-dividend

I was on a conference call earlier this week focused on cap-and-dividend. (You can download the MP3.) C&D, if you don’t recall, is a kind of hybrid cap-and-trade/carbon tax developed by Peter Barnes. A fee would be levied on fossil fuels; the revenue would be refunded to citizens on an equal per capita basis. (Imagine […]

Southwest faces ‘permanent drying’ by 2050

A major new report warns that on our current emissions path, we face the severe risk of abrupt climate change impacts. The basic conclusions themselves are nothing new. But what is stunning is that these warnings come from the United States Geological Survey — the Bush Administration (!). This new science-based report, Abrupt Climate Change, […]

NOAA: U.S. had another record hurricane and tornado season

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual climate report tells the warming tale: “For November alone, the month is fourth warmest all-time globally.” This comes on the heels of last month’s report of the second warmest October on record. Since the deniers have become overly fond of 60-day trend lines (see here), one can safely […]

NASA: Another brutally hot year for the Siberian tundra

Unfortunately, the greatest warming in 2008 came in the worst possible place for humanity — the Siberian tundra. That’s clear from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies report on the meteorological year, December 2007 through November 2008: The remarkably widespread warming in the land of the permafrost permamelt should be the big global warming story […]

Not-so-deep thought

Between Salazar, Vilsack, LaHood, and Warren, Obama really peed in the ol’ cornflakes today.

CNNMoney reports that electrification is key to Chrysler’s bailout pitch

CNNMoney has the surprising story of “Chrysler’s plan to beat the Chevy Volt“: Chrysler is pinning a huge part of its future on a plan to produce a full line of electric vehicles, at a reasonable cost to both the carmaker and the consumer … Chrysler’s strategy hinges on keeping it cheap. The carmaker will […]

New energy chief’s enthusiasm for cellulosic ethanol makes me uncomfortable

"World demand for transportation fuels is growing fast, and biofuels have a major role to play in meeting that demand. That’s why BP is investing in a range of biofuels-related activities around the world, all aimed at bringing biofuels into the mainstream by making them more widely available to motorists." — From a BP press […]

What green products would you like to see Grist review?

Used to be you had to trek out to your nearest natural-foods hippie-mart to find any sort of organic/natural/ecofriendly product. But now, green products are starting to show up on shelves near and far — at Targets, Wal-Marts, drug stores, and major grocery chains. Trouble is, no matter whether you’re standing in the aisles of […]

Obama taps Republican Rep. Ray LaHood to head the Department of Transportation

Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) has apparently accepted Obama’s offer to be his Secretary of Transportation. LaHood, 63, has served in the House since 1995, and is retiring after his year. For more on his (not very lengthy) transit record, see Adam Doster at Progress Illinois: So what can we glean about LaHood’s record on this […]