Latest Articles

Interior Department employees under investigation for sex, drugs, and bribe scandal

Thirteen government officials are under investigation for allegedly engaging in illicit sex with and accepting a number of gifts from employees of energy companies, according to federal investigators. The probe involves Interior Department employees in the Denver and Washington offices, who handle billions of dollars in oil royalties. At the Denver Minerals Management Service, the […]

$100 billion stimulus for 2 million new jobs in two years

Yesterday, the Center for American Progress released “Green Recovery,” a new report by Dr. Robert Pollin and University of Massachusetts Political Economy Research Institute economists. This report demonstrates how a new Green Recovery program that invests $100 billion over two years would create 2 million new jobs with a significant proportion in the struggling construction […]

We need some qualified public leaders

It strikes me that many of the problems we run into on a daily basis are caused by people doing a job for which they are not fully qualified. At the top of the list, I’m afraid we must place those we elect to office and those they appoint to government service positions. We have […]

Snippets from the news

• Deaths at oil and gas fields rise at an alarming rate. • Almanac prognosticators consider how to deal with climate change. • Santa Barbara city council says no to offshore drilling. • Berkeley tree-sitters descend. • Old-growth forests do their part to fight global warming. • Alberta oil spill kills hundreds of birds. • […]

Gourmet’s Barry Estabrook on Palin, mining, and a sustainable salmon fishery

Wasn’t McCain initially trying to pitch Sarah Palin as some sort of maverick who stands up to Alaska’s dirty industries on matters of principle? Whatever. According to an excellent post by Barry Estabrook on Gourmet magazine’s blog, Sarah Barracuda has been baring her fangs on behalf of Alaska’s mining industry, even when its actions imperil […]

Where do candidates stand on solar?

People have questions, Solar Nation has answers.

Ethics violations alleged at agency that collects oil and gas royalties

Between 2002 and 2006, a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” existed at the federal agency responsible for overseeing oil and gas royalties, according to an investigation by Minerals Management Service Inspector General Earl Devaney. Thirteen MMS employees (in an office of 55 people) are alleged to have rigged contracts, worked part-time as oil consultants, […]

On the transformative potential of community-scale food production

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. —– This spring, someone transformed the vacant lot across the street from my in-town apartment here in Cortez, a […]

Resentment in partisan politics

Reacting to this post, Reihan Salam (who majors in good blogging and minors in even better dancing) says there is enough fear, resentment, and moral arrogance to go around. He says arguing over who’s the bitterest of all is "unedifying." Your honor, I object! I wrote said post mere hours after Romney assaulted my logic […]

Natural foods giant agrees to penny-per-pound raise for farmworkers

I reported a few days ago that a deal was imminent; now it’s official: Whole Foods has signed an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to pay an extra penny-per-pound for Florida tomatoes. The raise will go directly into the pockets of some of the lowest-paid workers in the United States. In addition, the […]