Latest Articles
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Ungreen sport of golf becoming less popular in U.S.
A little birdie told us that the number of bogey men still sand-trapped in the golf club has fallen by 13 percent since 2000. By which we mean, golf is becoming less popular in the U.S. Guess it’s just par for the course, as the golfing green is anything but green. If golf enthusiasts are […]
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There was no consensus about global cooling in the ’70s, says study
The scientific consensus in the 1970s about “global cooling” is a beloved argument of global-warming skeptics — and little more, says a survey of scientific literature between 1965 and 1979. During that time period, seven peer-reviewed articles supported global cooling, while 44 predicted global warming. “There was no scientific consensus in the 1970s that the […]
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China kicks off the coal-to-liquids rush
Looks like China is about to uncork the CTL genie, opening a plant to produce liquid fuel from coal. This won’t be the last: A study last year by the Chinese Academy of Sciences said: “Production of liquid fuels from coal is practically the most feasible route to cope with the dilemma in oil supply.” […]
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Giant pythons could spread in southern U.S., say feds
You may think you’re prepared for climate change — solar-powered fan, flood insurance, nostalgic polar-bear picture, check, check, check — but are you prepared for 20-foot, 250-pound snakes? Giant Burmese pythons could find some one-third of the United States to be habitable climate by 2100, according to a new map published by the U.S. Geological […]
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A sci-fi writer and an environmental journalist explore their overlapping worlds
Pump Six and Other Stories, by Paolo Bacigalupi. Science fiction writer Paolo Bacigalupi, author of the new collection Pump Six and Other Stories, envisions a future filled with environmental terrors. His characters move through worlds transformed by climate change, genetic engineering, drought, and toxic waste — places that seem exotic at first, but on second […]
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USCRAP
The media was all abuzz when a bunch of big corporations got together to form USCAP, a coalition supporting the implementation of a mandatory cap on carbon emissions in the U.S. Why, big business has gone green! So the headlines said. However, as a great BusinessWeek story today explains, many of those same companies are […]
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Deep thought of the day
As rising energy prices and better urban planning push the affluent back to city centers, the poor and working class will be pushed out to the suburbs. Soon, we’ll see blight, crime, the drug trade, and other social pathologies where we have been accustomed to seeing the American Dream. “Inner city” and “outer suburb” will […]
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With wheat stocks at all-time lows, a fertilizer magnate utters the F-word
Famine. For us Americans, the word conjures images of heart-rending scenes from distant shores: the kind of images a sad-eyed Sally Struthers busts our chops about on late-night cable TV. Famine is an abstract concept, a specter haunting not us, but distant ancestors and exotic-looking people in faraway lands. Of course, as Richard Manning drives […]
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John McCain scores a big ol’ goose egg on this year’s environmental report card
Today, the League of Conservation Voters released its annual scorecard, which rates legislators based on their votes on issues of environmental significance. The LCV scorecard has its critics, but it’s nonetheless become something of a gold standard when measuring how "green" a lawmaker is. A couple of big stories emerge from this year’s scorecard. The […]
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Why are biofuels losing steam in Europe — and barreling ahead in the U.S.?
The signs are cropping up — we just need to heed them. Photo: iStockphoto “Biodiesel: No War Required,” reads a bumper sticker I see more often than you might expect in North Carolina. As in other states across the nation, a lot of activist energy here has gone into creating a market for diesel fuel […]
