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Savvy citizen asks the right question about climate change at debate

Thank heavens for the “average citizen.” After approximately 4 million debates over the past year, someone finally asked the right and real question about climate change. Ingrid Jackson, over in Section C of the audience in Tuesday night’s debate, didn’t ask if the candidates thought global warming was real, and she didn’t even ask what […]

Debate Video: Obama on energy independence

Obama on energy in tonight’s debate:

July sees another sharp drop in U.S. driving

July saw another sharp drop in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) according to the Federal Highway Administration’s monthly report on “Traffic Volume Trends.” Lost in all the news about the financial meltdown and the election is the report that Americans drove 3.6 percent less, or 9.6 billion miles fewer, in July 2008 than July 2007. Okay, […]

The House Energy and Commerce Committee releases draft of potential climate legislation

Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and ranking member Rick Boucher (D-Va.) released a “discussion draft” of their long-awaited climate change legislation today. “This draft is the culmination of nearly two years of intensive work on climate change by the Committee and marks an important step in our ongoing efforts to address this […]

Snippets from the news

• Are falling oil prices a blessing or a curse for automakers? • Some envision offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes. • Credit crisis threatens energy projects in West. • Are Houston’s petrochemicals safe from hurricanes? • Army looks to build world’s strongest solar array. • Climate change makes for stormier Arctic.

A tasting of five fall-friendly organic dark brews

According to hippie wisdom, early fall is a delicate time, holistically speaking. The season’s first chill causes sniffly noses and sour moods. To chase the fall blues away, one alternative-medicine-minded friend recently suggested eating plenty of greens. Well, I already eat plenty of greens. What I really need now is a beer — one dark […]

Republican congresscritters are in serious trouble

Remember when "drill, baby, drill" was going to reverse a horrible electoral year for Republicans in Congress? Turns out maybe not so much: The possibility that Democrats will build a muscular, 60-seat Senate majority is looking increasing plausible, with new polls showing a powerful surge for the party’s candidates in Minnesota, Kentucky and other states. […]

Two new pieces delve into the denial industry

If you are interested in the climate change denial industry, you need to check out two crucial new pieces, which are running in conjunction. First, the American News Project’s "Smoke and CO2: How to Spin Global Warming," which highlights the the historical links between the effort to deny tobacco science and the effort to deny […]

How current GHG policy distorts capital allocation

As we think about how to price GHG emissions, it’s often (and accurately) cited that having a meaningful conversation about GHG pricing first requires that we remove all the existing subsidies so that we can stop irrationally allocating capital. Clearly, we can’t provide insurance liability waivers to nuclear and ratepayer guarantees to regulated utilities and […]

Climate change will further spread of wildlife-to-human diseases, says report

Climate change is likely to further the spread of a “deadly dozen” diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans, says a new report from the Wildlife Conservation Society. The nasties: avian flu, babesiosis, cholera, Ebola, Lyme disease, parasites, plague, red tide, Rift Valley fever, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis, and yellow fever. Whee! “The term ‘climate […]