Latest Articles

Now that farmers have gotten big or gotten out, it’s up to alternative farmers

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. —– Since the early 1970s, if not before, U.S. farm policy has hinged on the mantra, “get big or […]

Note to media: Enough with the multiple hedges on climate science!

In an otherwise fascinating story on the growing “icebreaker gap” in the rapidly defrosting Arctic Ocean, NYT reporter Andy Revkin writes: Even with the increasing summer retreats of sea ice, which many polar scientists say probably are being driven in part by global warming caused by humans, there will always be enough ice in certain […]

Time to choose between a new cold war with Russia and a new cold war with Iran

It seems that centrist Mark Kleiman thinks continued Iran bashing is a bad idea because it is time “to give a hard time to” Russia. This belated opponent of the Iraq war seems to think that the point of ending that bloodbath is to turn our firepower against the appropriate new enemy — to be […]

Electric-car visionary would overhaul the way we get around

Could the global auto infrastructure be overhauled in a way that’s profitable for business, cheap for drivers, and easy on the planet? Meet Better Place‘s Shai Agassi and his plans for an electric-car future, featured in the latest issue of Wired. In Agassi’s vision, gas stations are replaced with omnipresent recharging spots for electric cars. […]

McCain suggests renegotiating Colorado River compact to benefit Ariz., Nev., and Calif.

What epic gaffe could unite Colorado’s Democratic Senator Ken Salazar — “over my dead body” — and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer — “Over my cold, dead, political carcass“? That would be Arizona Senator John McCain telling The Pueblo Chieftan on Thursady that he wants to renegotiate the famous 1922 Colorado River compact to […]

Bill Clinton gets into the weeds of energy policy

Photo: Brent Danley On Monday, Bill Clinton gave the opening remarks at the National Clean Energy Summit, speaking for almost an hour and taking questions for another 30 minutes. The energy issue is hot politics these days, but those hoping to witness some of the ’90s-vintage Clinton political jujitsu left disappointed. Instead they were treated […]

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says he’d invest in clean energy

The Wall Street Journal asked House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) how he would spend $10 billion of the country’s monetary resources. He says it should be spent on clean energy: A dramatic investment in clean energy would be the most effective check on aggressive petroregimes from Moscow to Tehran. It would be the best […]

A roundup of energy and climate news from the U.K.

Like pretty much every other English person I know, I’m currently on holiday in France. The Vendee region makes for a pleasant alternative to Britain at this time of year, and just down the road is La Rochelle, which was part of England until, oh, about 500 years ago. The two nations are deep in […]

Speaker’s radio address aimed at blunting GOP message on energy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took up the “drill more, drill now” refrain Saturday in the Democrats’ weekly radio address, offering up a list of policy proposals intended to show that Democrats do indeed care about high gas and energy prices. Here’s the YouTube version (text can be found here): Pelosi bashes the Bush administration […]

Reid pulls together Dem bigwigs (and T. Boone) to hash over energy policy

I’m here at UNLV for the National Clean Energy Summit being thrown by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Center for American Progress. I guess they’re playing off Las Vegas’s international reputation for bringing water and air conditioning to the desert clean energy. Bill Clinton is speaking in a few minutes. And hey, is […]