Latest Articles

Offshore drilling has an ‘insignificant’ effect on oil prices

I am glad that so many in the energy debate have picked up on one of the two messages from my previous post (see "EIA to McCain: Drop offshore [drilling]").

But in listening to the radio and TV debates, I realize that some people have the impression that U.S. Energy Information Administration said offshore drilling might eventually lower oil prices. It did not. It found that allowing offshore drilling would have no significant effect on prices as far out into the future as the analysis projected.

Eco-friendly outdoor outfitter resurrected

Last month, we were sad to learn that stylish, sustainable outdoorsy-fashion darling Nau was biting the dust. Turns out that goodbye for Nau was a good buy for Horny Toad Activewear, a Santa Barbara-based maker of “lifestyle apparel” that recently acquired the company. (Hee hee, they said horny!) Mark Galbraith, head of product design for […]

Obama heads to Nevada, takes on McCain in energy policy address

Not to let John McCain have all the attention on energy policy this week, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama gave a speech on energy today in Springs Preserve, a 180-acre area in Nevada dedicated to sustainability. “What we are seeing here … is that a green, renewable energy economy isn’t some pie-in-the-sky, far-off future, it […]

Revkin interviews Hansen

Here, NYT reporter Andrew Revkin interviews climate scientist James Hansen about the 20th anniversary of his seminal Congressional testimony: More on Dot Earth.

Select Committee acquires documents related to EPA’s proposals for rulemaking on auto emissions

We reported a few weeks ago that the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming had reached a deal with the White House to secure documents from the Environmental Protection Agency on its work in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in the case Massachusetts v. EPA. We also reported that The Wall […]

Snippets from the news

• Green products become more affordable. • Offshore wind coming soon to Delaware. • California requires greenhouse-gas labels on cars. • Pfizer to pay $975,000 for clean-air violations. • Californians run for the border for gas.

Business consulting firm projects robust growth for solar and grid parity in many locations by 2020

McKinsey has a great new analysis piece: “The economics of solar power.” Overall it’s extremely optimistic, saying that despite uncertainties around technology and policy, growth in the solar sector is all but certain to be robust. Here’s a interesting chart. The size of the yellow ball is the size of the solar market in TWh. […]

Wimbledon under fire for shooting pigeons

As the Wimbledon tennis championships get underway, the real drama isn’t on the court but in the air. After the players’ lawn and an open-air restaurant were dive-bombed by pigeons, officials sent marksmen to take ’em out. The tournament employs two hawks for pigeon-scaring, “and by and large they do the job,” says a Wimbledon […]

Florida will buy out sugar company to restore Everglades

Nearly 300 square miles of sugar plantation in the Everglades will once again become marsh, as Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced Tuesday that the state will buy the land from U.S. Sugar Corp. If all goes to plan, the $1.75 billion deal may be the largest environmental restoration in the history of the United States. […]

Even U.S. government says human emissions are changing climate

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (a.k.a. the Bush Administration) has issued a must-read report, Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate. It wouldn't be must-read or even big news if it weren't for the fact that

• Many environmentalists stopped talking about the extreme weather/global warming link a decade ago.
• The deniers, the delayers, and of course the Roger Pielkes of the world have pushed back against any claims that climate change is driving the extreme weather we see today. (as Chico Marx (dressed as Groucho) said "Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?")
• The media has been brow-beaten by the deniers into downplaying the connection. The journalist Ross Gelbspan has a long discussion of this in his great 2004 book, Boiling Point -- I will blog on this later.
• The Midwest is experiencing the second "500-year flood" in 13 years. (Don't worry, big media, it's all just a big coincidence like the deniers keep saying.)