Latest Articles

Snippets from the news

• Toyota develops new fuel-cell hybrid. • Yucca Mountain safety plan is “doomed.” • British eco-town plan could be cut from ten to five. • Three air pollutants decline in China. • Report on oil-sands pollution yanked from website. • Drought makes Old Faithful less faithful.

USA Today: oil prices drive up asphalt costs, derail road maintenance

For decades, public cash has gushed into building infrastructure designed to get us around in those little (or not-so-little) privatized pods. Indeed, the mobilization to create and maintain our road and highway network probably counts as our greatest public achievement of the last half-century. Meanwhile, while the highway rode high, our rail-transportation network crashed. Attacked […]

McCain says he hearts Everglades, despite opposing bill with restoration funding

Sen. John McCain swung through Florida last week, taking time for a boat tour of the Everglades on Friday. The Obama campaign promptly criticized McCain for his opposition last year to a water bill that included major funding for Everglades restoration. McCain said he would have supported a stand-alone Everglades bill, but the broader water […]

Peter Barnes on cap-and-dividend in U.S. News & World Report

Peter Barnes' proposal is popping up everywhere these days, most recently in U.S. News and World Report. The idea is simple: Put a cap on emissions, and divide that cap into permits. Sell those permits upstream -- mostly to just a few hundred fossil fuel producers and importers. They in turn will pass the cost of those permits on to consumers. Divide the revenue from the auctions among consumers, which makes up for the higher prices.

Read the article for details.

Update: "Rebate" changed to "Refund" as GreyFlcn suggested.

From Turnoff to Turn-on

Just don’t hit eject Overpopulation give you pause? Then give it pause, boys, with a remote control that halts sperm in its tracks. Perfect for dates on fast-forward — though it does involve microchipping your manhood. But did we mention the remote control? Booty call to action If you’re bummed about climate change, panty up […]

Bushism will endure

“There has occasionally been voiced the misimpression that a future administration will take a significantly different attitude towards climate than this administration.” — deputy national security adviser Dan Price

He rules their world

On the Drudge Report homepage right now: Gotta love those scare quotes.

BBC program on Kyoto offsets

The idea behind offsets is that you pay someone else to reduce emissions on your behalf when they can make the reductions more cheaply than you can. The leading offset method use to fight climate chaos is the Clean Development Mechanism. This is an extremely controversial topic, with many (including me) contending it does not work. The BBC has an excellent radio broadcast covering both sides of the controversy. The broadcaster concludes that offsets don't make sense. But he gives leading intelligent pro-CDM experts plenty of time to make their case. It is an example of a program that is, while not the least bit objective, still being fair.

An eco-friendly gift guide for Father’s Day

I will be your father figure, I have had enough of clime. You’re already planning to whip up a delectable dinner for Dad; the lawn is freshly mown; and you’re saving that request for plumbing advice ’til June 16. What else could a father ask for? If you still feel the need to shop, make […]

Lieberman-Warner’s failure this year underdetermines next year’s efforts

I suppose as an enviro-blogger I’m supposed to have something insightful to say about the death of the Lieberman-Warner bill. Yet I find myself strangely apathetic. So much buildup, so much debate, and then … hell, it was just another Republican filibuster. Why did I waste all those brain cells in the first place? It’s […]