Latest Articles

Nasty chemicals used in oil and gas drilling go largely unregulated

Toxic chemicals pumped underground to break up seams of rock and increase oil and gas production have a fun nickname: fracking fluids, short for fracturing. (Go on, say it: frack!) But the fun stops there. Fracking fluids go largely unregulated, despite millions of gallons of use and hundreds of reported spills each year. Thanks to […]

Group to spend nearly $2 million to promote clean coal at the conventions

While both the Democrats and Republicans are touting their conventions as “greenest ever,” some not-so-green elements are making their way in as well — namely, nearly $2 million of coal advertising in and around each convention, sponsored by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. ACCCE will drop that large wad of cash to put […]

When the tomato harvest gets out of hand, the tough get canning

Too much of a good thing? Photos: Kurt Michael Friese For a tomato-loving gardener, what’s the only thing more frightening than a failed crop? Try an overabundant one. You become terrified that any of these jewels will go to waste. The specter of fruit flies congregating on the compost heap brings regret of over-ambitious spring […]

Science orgs plead for more funding for severe-weather preparation

More floods, storms, and droughts are a-comin’, and the U.S. lacks funding to predict and prepare for ’em, say eight scientific organizations. The groups, including the American Geophysical Union and American Meteorological Society, made a plea Wednesday for Congress and the next U.S. president to double the current budget for climate research and forecasting between […]

Colorado utility voluntarily shuts down two coal plants

Two coal-fired power plants in Colorado will be shut down — not because green groups sued like crazy to make it happen, but because a utility volunteered. Citing concerns about public health and greenhouse-gas emissions, Xcel Energy asked permission of state regulators to close its coal plants, and regulators have approved the plan. Xcel becomes […]

Toward a sensible energy plan

This is a guest post by Ted Glick, the policy director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network/U.S. Climate Emergency Council. He can be reached at usajointheworld@igc.org. He is author of “Past Future Hope” columns. —– On August 4, the Barack Obama presidential campaign released a comprehensive program for reform of the U.S. energy system. In […]

IPCC needs to update projections to include deforestation feedbacks

The following post is by Ken Levenson, guest blogger at Climate Progress. —– As deforestation accelerates and grows ever more concentrated the climate change consequences appear even greater than previously thought. As reported in New Scientist: Pristine temperate forest stores three times more carbon than currently estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and […]

McCain claims ‘the truly clean technologies don’t work’

Late last year, after his campaign tanked, no one was paying much attention to McCain. As a result, some of the amazing things that he believes didn’t get a lot of attention, such as this Cheney-esque stunner: John McCain: “When you say wind solar and tide, most every expert that I know says that, if […]

New MoveOn ad targets Elizabeth Dole and John McCain

MoveOn is dropping a cool half a million dollars on a new TV ad in North Carolina that accuses Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) of being “in the pocket of Big Oil.” The ad highlights their support for tax breaks for oil companies. Dole is facing a tough reelection bid […]

Snippets from the news

• Lease sale held in Gulf of Mexico. • First half of 2008 coolest of last five years. • Nations meet to talk climate in Ghana. • Shareholder resolutions related to climate change doubled over last five years. • Five Midwest states violated air-pollution standards. • Southwest getting less rain.