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Two of world’s richest men visit Canadian oil sands

The richest and third-richest men in the world made a surprise visit to an oil-sands operation in the Canadian province of Alberta on Monday. Investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who are said to have a combined worth of $120 billion, “were exercising curiosity, basically saying, ‘Wow, this is neat,'” says Greg Stringham […]

‘Gang of 10,’ part 3

Part 2 began an analysis of the bipartisan compromise proposed by the "Gang of 10" senators, suggesting that their deal isn’t so bad. The other evidence the deal isn’t so bad is that the House GOP is threatening to refuse to vote for it. The good of the five-year extension of the renewable tax credits […]

Another green group backs the Democratic presidential candidate

Environment America today became the latest green group to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. “Sen. Obama has publicly committed to fully addressing the pressing problem of global warming and moving the United States toward a new energy future,” said Margie Alt, executive director of Environment America. “He has made clean energy one of the […]

Meetings about clean energy conspicuously fail to identify the main barrier to it

There were two remarkable aspects of the National Clean Energy Summit: Federal policy recommendations from the varied speakers — scientists, business types, politicians — were largely in sync. In fact, I got sick of hearing the same policies touted over and over again: renewable tax credits, cap-and-trade, electricity grid improvements, efficiency standards, renewable mandates, increased […]

Climate change endangers American pika, say groups

The American pika should be listed as an endangered species because climate change could cause its extinction, say Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity in a lawsuit filed Tuesday against California and the federal government. The pika, a rabbit cousin characterized by inordinate cuteness and a squeaky call, is “the polar bear of the […]

Everyone’s talking about Obama’s VP pick

Barack Obama is expected to reveal his vice presidential selection sometime this week, possibly as soon as today, though it’s looking like a campaign event in Springfield, Ill. on Saturday is the most likely location for an announcement. If you’ve turned on cable news in the past few days, the pundits have been jabbering non-stop […]

Umbra on Method cleansers

Dear Umbra, I’ve noticed lately that Method cleaning products are now being sold in a number of different retail outlets, whereas before they were only sold in Target. This shouldn’t seem too weird in our every-store-sells-the-same-thing world, but seeing these products on the shelves in Whole Foods got me wondering more about them. You see, […]

That which cannot be named

There must have been a dozen separate speakers at the summit who mentioned the need for long-term extension of the renewable tax credits (PTC and ITC). Every one of them identified it as a necessary and beneficial policy, and just about every one lamented that Congress hadn’t done it. Only one speaker the whole day […]

Pharma giant Lilly snaps up Posilac for ‘at least’ $300 million

A week or so ago, commenting on news that Monsanto was looking to unload its much-despised bovine-growth-hormone business, I offered this nugget of wisdom: Whatever company buys it probably won’t have Monsanto’s deep pockets. Hmmm. What’s that word again? Oh, yeah — W-R-O-N-G. (Hat tip to Jill of La Vida Locavore.) Today, Monsanto announced that […]

Mayor has big clean-energy goals for NYC

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg touted clean energy Tuesday at, aptly, the National Clean Energy Summit. He said his city has issued a formal request to companies for ideas on how to source electricity from the wind, sun, and waves. “Perhaps companies will want to put wind farms atop our bridges and skyscrapers, or […]