Latest Articles

Take note, everyone: Oil is not energy

Should business-section newspaper articles about tobacco companies ritually include statements such as, “The company’s profits and future existence, of course, wholly depend on its ability to externalize the health effects of its products”? Probably not. The newspaper article is a genre narrowly focused on one item — perhaps that’s why newspaper articles are sometimes called […]

Ocean temperture levels indicate planet has kept warming since 1998

As part of their climate myth series, New Scientist cuts through the nonsense on what’s happened globally in the last decade: In fact, the planet as a whole has warmed since 1998, even in the years when surface temperatures have fallen. According to the dataset of the UK Met Office Hadley Centre (see figure, right), […]

California bill aims to curb sprawl

Hopes are high that a bill aimed at curbing California sprawl will pass the state legislature and be signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill, SB 375, would channel transportation funding toward projects that encourage smart growth. Each of California’s 17 metropolitan regions would create a “sustainable community strategy” to encourage compact development; […]

John McCain doesn’t know how many houses he owns

GOP presidential candidate John McCain isn’t sure how many houses he owns. “I think — I’ll have my staff get to you,” McCain told Politico yesterday. “It’s condominiums where — I’ll have them get to you.” The correct answer seems to be somewhere between four and seven. The Obama campaign has already released this ad […]

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 [email protected]. 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 […]