Latest Articles

Can sustainable farming provide a sustainable living?

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. —– Should small-scale farmers who grow organically and sell locally or regionally be able to make a middle-class living […]

A choice of primary energies: renewable electrons win the gold

As you might expect from an analyst who has written a series about the (renewable) electron economy, I believe that the mainstay of our future energy system will be electric generators powered by renewable energy. However, I hope to show here that this choice has a basis largely in economic, scientific, and technological reality rather […]

What are the prospects for sound climate and energy legislation next year?

David and I caught up with Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) yesterday to talk about climate and energy politics, and the prospects for next Congress. Bingaman is the chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. We caught him after he appeared on a panel on “The Future of Environmentalism.” Bingaman stuck to a pragmatic […]

Bush admin proposes scaling back speed-limit zone meant to protect right whales

On the same day that President Bush moved toward creation of marine sanctuaries in the Pacific, his administration proposed cutting by 10 nautical miles a speed-limit zone in the Atlantic meant to protect critically endangered right whales. The proposal would cut the area covered by the speed zones to 20 nautical miles offshore from the […]

President Bush exploring creation of massive marine sanctuaries in Pacific

On Monday, President Bush took the first step toward protecting three unique marine areas in the Pacific Ocean that are under U.S. jurisdiction, including waters around the Mariana Islands, Rose Atoll in American Samoa, and other coral reefs and atolls in the central Pacific. If all of the proposed areas are eventually protected, it would […]

DNC: Convention thoughts at 3 a.m.

I’m here at the DNC convention with Kate, who I believe has done a couple of posts already. The reason I don’t know for sure is — it’s friggin’ insane here! I’ve been running at a full sprint since I got off the plane this afternoon. I’m typing this before collapsing into bed at almost […]

Carl Pope on Big Oil politics

“The message ‘You’re too close to Big Oil’ will trump the message ‘I’m for drilling off the coast’ every time.” “The oil wing of the Republican party is like the mafia or the Crips or the Bloods — once you get in you can never get out.” — Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, on […]

Delegates approve platform that embraces Obama’s energy plan

The Democratic Party today approved a platform that embraces presidential candidate Barack Obama’s energy policies. Included in it is his call for tax rebates to families struggling with high energy costs. In an op-ed in the Denver Post today, John Podesta and Timothy Wirth argue that the platform doesn’t go far enough on energy issues. […]

Gary Hart talks to Grist about climate and energy policy and the next president

Energy, climate, and national-security concerns are inextricably joined in the modern political environment, says former Democratic Colorado Sen. Gary Hart. This fact should elevate sound climate and energy policy to a top-tier issue in this year’s election, he said, for both politicians and voters. “I think if ordinary, everyday Americans understood that we are sacrificing […]

Gates and Buffet to invest in tar sands and spawn more two-headed fish?

Two heads are apparently not better than one — certainly not for fish and apparently not for the super-rich either. If you thought that the two richest Americans got that way by being green — or had suddenly become green because they are now giving their money to charitable causes — you were mistaken. The […]