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Can you see Russia from behind that skirt?

“This may sound gratuitous, but at least because Gov. Palin — Sarah Palin is so persuasive, I would like to come to Alaska. I haven’t been there in many years anyway, maybe I’ll agree to go visit that area and have a look.” — Sen. John McCain, continuing the slow walkback of his longstanding opposition […]

New report finds unconventional liquid fuels will boost CO2

The interwebs are abuzz over a new study from RAND Corp., which finds that unconventional liquid fuels like oils sands and liquid coal would dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions relative to regular oil. In other news, the earth is round. It also found that Canadian tar sands are economically competitive given current (and expected) prices […]

While global markets crater, a Vermont town unites around food

The effort to revive global credit markets has devolved into farce. Every day, U.S. authorities announce some earth-shaking new measure — a $700 billion bailout, the Fed’s extraordinary move into the commercial-paper business, a coordinated global set of rate cuts — and every day, investors continue acting as tweaky as meth heads when the dope […]

No cash yet offered to save Ecuador rainforest as deadline looms

In June 2007, Ecuador offered to avoid oil development in a tract of biodiverse rainforest if other nations and green groups were able to pony up $350 million a year for a decade. Reaction to the pay-to-protect idea was positive, but a twice-bumped-back deadline is coming up in Dec. 2008, and still no funding is […]

Big ag, little ag, and government support

In “Dispatches from the Fields,” Ariane Lotti and Stephanie Ogburn, who are working on small farms in Iowa and Colorado this season, share their thoughts on producing real food in the midst of America’s agro-industrial landscape. —– In the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to attend a couple of events here in southwestern […]

Ignoring efficiency, conventional wisdom holds that climate action will raise energy costs

It’s worth closely reading this Avery Palmer piece in CQ Politics: "The price of being green." It puts the frame around American energy/environmental politics in particularly crystalline terms. To wit: environmentalists want to raise the cost of energy while everyone else wants to lower it. Or more specifically: in order to lower greenhouse gas emissions, […]

Pay-to-protect plan for Ecuadorian rainforest on the brink

This Guardian story was written by reporter Haroon Siddique. Grist is a member of the Guardian’s Environment Network. —– A unique proposal to protect one of the world’s most biodiverse places from oil drilling is facing a looming deadline without any funding in place. The Ecuadorian government has said it is prepared to keep hundreds […]

Verdant Power shows it’s got the RITE stuff

    This is a guest post by my travel partner, Todd Dwyer, head blogger for Dell’s ReGeneration.org. —– Four times a day, without fail, New York City’s East River will change directions. It’s been doing that for ages and will continue to do so long after we are gone. The tides are a constant, […]

Bisphenol A may reduce effectiveness of chemotherapy

Oh, bisphenol A, what can’t you do? The ubiquitous chemical, present in polycarbonate plastic and most can linings, may reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapy, says new research published in Environmental Health Perspectives. Researchers subjected human breast cancer cells to low levels of BPA. “It’s actually acting by protecting existing cancer cells from dying in response […]

McCain and Palin talk energy with Fox’s Sean Hannity

In an interview Wednesday with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Republican presidential candidate John McCain again suggested that he’s willing to reevaluate his opposition to allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. “At least because Gov. Palin is so persuasive, I would like to come to Alaska. I haven’t been there in many years anyway, […]