Latest Articles

E.U. committee vote signals backstep from biofuels

The European Union took another step back from biofuels late Monday, as the Parliament’s environment committee approved 36-0 a proposal to lower the E.U.’s original target for biofueled transportation. The committee’s proposal would have the E.U. source just 4 percent of transportation fuels from biomass by 2015, then do a major review before jumping to […]

Bush administration, other G8 leaders agree to halve emissions by 2050

Today at the G8 summit, which began yesterday in Hokkaido, Japan, world leaders reached a landmark deal: agreeing to cut emissions in half by 2050. The leaders agreed to “seriously consider” this goal last year, and six of the eight leaders have been trying desperately to get George Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper […]

Republican leaders advocate domestic shale development

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."

The Republican National Committee just launched an ad called, "Balance" claiming we have "a climate in crisis." Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) introduced the Climate Destruction Gas Price Reduction Act of 2008 late last month that would repeal the congressional moratorium on shale development. In a press release today titled, "A Balanced Approach to Reducing Gas Prices for Americans," he claimed that, "Our western states are sitting on a sea of oil three times as large as the oil reserves in Saudi Arabia."

Actually, the shale ain't a sea of anything. It is a clay-like rock, organic marlstone, containing very little energy [PDF] -- per pound, it has one-tenth the energy of crude oil, one-fourth that of recycled phone books, one-third that of Cap'n Crunch. Turning it into a usable liquid fuel would require a massive amounts of energy and probably release more carbon dioxide than even liquid coal.

The best analysis of the climate risks of unconventional oil, "Risks of the oil transition," coauthored by the late Alex Farrell, has an outstanding figure that shows that from a climate perspective, shale is probably worse than liquid coal (which is pretty damn bad):

Grist downtime

You may have noticed that Grist.org was inaccessible for most of the day today. On the bright side, none of us could get our email either, so we weren’t burdened by all the complaints people were sending in. Yeah, that’s really all I’ve got for bright side. The problem was not with the site but […]

Lag in water-pollution enforcement traced to muddled court decision

The U.S. EPA has neglected to pursue hundreds of potential violations of the Clean Water Act because of regulatory uncertainty, according to an internal memo. The lack of clarity stems from a 2006 Supreme Court ruling that left plenty up in the air about the types of waterways and wetlands that fall under EPA jurisdiction. […]

Dave heads to where the hills are alive

Listen Play "Prelude," from The Sound of Music On Wednesday, I leave for Salzburg, Austria, where — thanks to the generosity of a Knight Foundation Fellowship — I will be attending a session of the Salzburg Global Seminar on "Combating Climate Change at Local and Regional Levels: Sustainable Strategies, Renewable Energy." I am of course […]

How to green your day job

Simple steps are the key to a greener office. Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to waste we go. Nope, those aren’t the lyrics the Disney dwarves belted out en route to the daily grind, but in today’s world they’re right on the money. Most skyscrapers, offices, and cubicles are eco disaster areas, squandering massive amounts of […]

Texas oilman unveils Pickens Plan to avert U.S. energy crisis

T. Boone Pickens. Photo: University of Texas America has a problem, and T. Boone Pickens has a solution. “U.S. dependency on foreign oil has reached an economic crisis point,” says the infamous Texas oilman, who in response has unveiled The Pickens Plan. The 80-year-old billionaire proposes that private investors fund the construction of thousands of […]

Coral reefs not doing so well

We’re in the midst of the International Year of the Reef, but there’s little to celebrate: Nearly half of coral reefs in U.S. waters are in “poor” or “fair” condition, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported at this week’s 11th International Coral Reef Symposium. Human activity messes with reefs in all sorts of ways, […]

Jeffrey Sachs, economist and eco-problem solver, chats about his plans to save the world

Jeffrey Sachs speaks at the University of North Carolina. Photo: Kevin Tsui Jeffrey Sachs — the renowned economist who devised a grand plan in 2005 to rid the world of poverty — is now focused on an even broader ambition: saving the planet and all of us who call it home. His new book, Common […]