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Q&A with Eric Janszen on whether an alt-energy bubble is in the making

Eric Janszen, the founder and president of iTulip.com, recently argued in Harper's Magazine that the alternative energy segment is a prime candidate for a massive asset bubble, potentially dwarfing both the dot-com and housing bubbles. I wrote about Janszen's prediction last week. This week, Janszen joins us for a question-and-answer follow-up.

Climate change leading to water shortages in U.S. West, says study

Remember water? We’re not quite at the point of calling it a thing of the past — but it sure looks to become scarce in the U.S. West, says a new study in the journal Science. It’s not natural weather variability or volcanic activity, say researchers, but quite clearly climate change that is leading to […]

Tapper: still a hack; Clinton: still smart

Andy Revkin has a Dot Earth post today that reflects on Jake Tapper’s hackery and, in my humble opinion, lets Tapper off way too easily. Look at this: For his part, Mr. Tapper posted a series of updates through Thursday clarifying his intent, saying he found Mr. Clinton’s speech confusing and was posing questions more […]

More than 1,500 schools participate in Focus the Nation events

As part of a national teach-in called Focus the Nation, more than 1,500 colleges and universities across the country yesterday put together panel discussions, workshops, and other events to build eco-action momentum among the yoots. Professors agreed to work climate change into their biology, politics, philosophy, and everything-else classes, and some schools brought local politicians […]

Idiot protest or brilliant parody?

I got a strange PR release today that sent me to this. I’ve read it over pretty closely and I still can’t tell whether it’s intended to be parody. If it is parody, it’s quite clever — really nails the self-righteousness arms race underway in the eat-your-own faction of the green movement. If it is […]

Gristmill’s most persistent troll earns props

The estimable George Monbiot channels Gristmill's most execrable troll, proving once again the old chestnut about stopped clocks being right twice a day.

Oil industry barely hangs on, thanks to brave Republican defense of subsidies

You may recall that a couple of months ago, Republicans in the Senate threatened a filibuster to defend about $13 billion in oil company subsidies. In other news, Exxon Mobil just posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company in history — $40.6 billion. It also set a record for the largest ever quarterly […]

Green groups sue over delay in polar-bear endangered-species decision

Environmental and native groups have sued — as they are wont to do — in an attempt to force the Interior Department to rethink its decision to sell oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, which is prime polar bear habitat. The lease sale by the department’s Minerals Management Service is scheduled to go […]

Kansas Republicans against global warming

A prominent Republican Kansas legislator comes out in support of Sebelius and against his ideological brethren on the subject of Kansas coal plants: When every Academy of Science in every developed, industrialized nation agrees, and when the overwhelming number of scientists throughout the world state man-made global warming is a reality, then I would ask […]

Lockheed Martin signs exclusive contract with Eestor for energy storage units

Oh! I forgot to pass on some interesting news that came my way recently. Defense mega-contractor Lockheed Martin has signed a contract with mysterious ultracapacitor company Eestor to use its energy storage devices in "military and homeland security applications." This seem huge. The buzz around Eestor — more here — has been intense, and the […]