Latest Articles

As Midwest floods recede, what’s being washed into the groundwater?

Flooded road in eastern Iowa. Photo: Dan Patterson Things are grim in Iowa, arguably the epicenter of global industrial food production. If Iowa were a nation, it would be the globe’s second-largest corn producer, behind only China. The state leads the U.S. [PDF] in the production of corn, hogs, and eggs, and ranks number two […]

Gore’s endorsement speech

Here’s a live stream of Al Gore endorsing Barack Obama, starting any second now:

McCain campaign clarifies (some of) McCain’s climate malapropisms

Earlier today, Kate reported on some confused remarks from John McCain on his plan for a carbon cap. Via Politico, the McCain campaign has now clarified the remarks. Here’s the original exchange: QUESTION: The European Union has set mandatory targets on renewable energy. Is that something you would consider in a McCain administration? […] MCCAIN: […]

Johnson, Dudley may be held in contempt of Congress by week’s end

U.S. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and Susan Dudley of the White House Office of Management and Budget may be held in contempt of Congress by the end of this week for failing to turn over documents related to recent controversial decisions on smog and California’s request for a waiver that would let the state set […]

Snippets from the news

• Brazil’s biofuel industry accused of worker exploitation. • With a new kit, turn your car into a hybrid. • Group seeks emergency protection for 32 species. • Oil companies allowed to annoy polar bears. • Intel spins off solar energy technology. • Teeny-tiny delivery vehicle to be unveiled.

Icky disease afflicting Alaskan salmon

Alaska’s prized wild salmon are suffering from a disease that scientists suspect of being boosted by — you guessed it — global warming. The emergence of Ichthyophonus as a threat to king salmon has coincided with a steady warming of Yukon River water over the past few decades, which scientists say has welcomed cold-averse parasites […]

Better cities, better growth

The Overhead Wire directs us to a Christian Science Monitor write-up of a new Brookings report on how we might want to support metropolitan economies: “If you’re going to get serious about the economy, then you’ve got to get specific about how you’re going to leverage metropolitan economies,” says Bruce Katz, director of the metropolitan […]

Found poetry on walkable cities

This blog often addresses the importance of walkable cities and towns, localities that are really there -- that have a sense of place. A friendly acquaintance of mine, Jacqueline Smay (wife of popular music guru David Smay, who authored SwordfishTrombones) tossed off this charming note that is more powerful than any statistic:

... it was cold but not bitter out, Union Square was glittering with lights and ringing with the sounds of competing street musicians, and the sidewalks were crowded with a mix of very late theatergoers, tourists, street people, street performers, local chi-chi store staff closing up for the night, dejected Giants fans, and elated A's fans. Everything felt very shiny and bustling and wide awake.

Outside a smoke shop on the corner of Powell a couple blocks up from Market, a two-man band composed of two young white guys, one with guitar and one with drums, was playing an improbably terrific version of "No Woman No Cry." Really, they had no right to be as good as they were. The streetcorner was crowded with tourists and miscellaneous wanderers, including a grandma out and about with her two six to eight-ish granddaughters; the girls were dancing deliriously in their teeny girl-power t-shirts and pastel Crocs while their grandmother beamed.

And right in front of the musicians, a middle-aged homeless black man was dancing with a middle-aged Asian woman all done-up for a big night out in a black, crepe dress with white lace and a long, swoopy duster and loads of makeup. They danced together a bit and then she spun out on her own, and he turned to the crowd, flung his arms out, and shouted, "She's beautiful! She's alive! She's alive and she knows it!"

Al Gore to endorse Barack Obama in Detroit tonight

At long last, Al Gore is jumping back into the presidential election ring. With an endorsement, we mean. In a speech to be delivered at 8:30 p.m. EST in Detroit, Mich., the Goracle will endorse Barack Obama. From the announcement on Gore’s blog: A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, […]

John McCain doesn’t appear to understand his own emissions plan

Also from John McCain’s press conference this morning, the senator from Arizona once again makes it clear that he doesn’t really understand cap-and-trade: QUESTION: The European Union has set mandatory targets on renewable energy. Is that something you would consider in a McCain administration? […] MCCAIN: Sure. I believe in the cap-and-trade system, as you […]