Latest Articles

Rescuers save 11 whales after mass stranding

Most of the 64 pilot whales that were stranded on a beach in Tasmania this weekend have died, but rescuers were eventually able to save 11 of them by moving them to another beach where they could more easily reach the sea. The reason for the mass stranding is unknown, though some activists speculated that […]

A taxonomy of denial

As a climate scientist, I have become fascinated with climate skeptics. What makes them tick? Do they believe what they’re saying? A while back, I suggested cognitive dissonance may play a role. Public Radio International has an interesting story on denial. Turns out that, much like a Neapolitan ice cream, it comes in several flavors: […]

Dingell’s fatal blunder — refusal to compromise

The NY Times has the background story on just how Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) beat John Dingell (D-MI) for chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. The turning point was Dingell’s rejection of a truce that Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the No. 2 Democrat in the House, was trying to broker: Two days after […]

Reflections on the Governors’ Climate Summit

The Governors’ Climate Summit was bookended by two striking visuals. The first was President-elect Barack Obama, kicking off the proceedings with a recorded message that stated in clear, unequivocal terms that the federal government is back in the game; governors, mayors, and companies working to battle climate change will have an active partner in Washington, […]

New report from Duke University pinpoints where green policies will create jobs

In his most concrete policy proposal since the November election, President-elect Barack Obama last week said his administration will “mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process.” Obama said that will “start” with a federal cap and trade system […]

NBC nixes TV’s only global climate change show during ‘Green Week’

Greenwashing is universal, at least at NBC. Last year, I pointed out the uber-lameness of NBC’s "Green is Universal" week. This year’s was worse. The few NBC primetime shows I watch don’t even seem to bother anymore — if any readers actually saw any green programming outside of the news division, let me know. But […]

Solar baseload outshines ‘clean coal’ — and it always will

Concentrated solar thermal power — aka solar baseload — remains hot. The Daily Climate has a nice update: All told some 60 plants are either under construction or under contract worldwide — with most in either Spain or the United States — for a total capacity just north of 5,700 megawatts. Here is the world […]

Conservatives claim CAFE standards caused car companies’ woes

A key reason for Detroit’s woes is that for decades they successfully fought efforts to build the kind of fuel-efficient cars the public has increasingly wanted to buy. Virtually all independent observers acknowledge that fact, but no conservative leader can. After all, they provided the political support and the votes that blocked repeated efforts by […]

Avego makes ride-sharing a normal reality

The thing about energy-driven collapse is that it’s uneven — it’s not like the calendar flips back and we all return to having the things we had in the past. Rather, we’re going to have this huge overhang of technology from the peak period of affluence and abundance. Sometimes that’s going to be bad (buildings […]

LCV calls out Chevron hypocrisy

The League of Conservation Voters beat me to punch in trashing Chevron’s recent greenwashing ads, with "I Will Point Out Hypocrisy": In train stations, at bus stops, online, even on our coffee cups, Chevron ads are trying to convince us that the key to ending our energy crisis is individual action. Over pictures of everyday […]