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Warming climate may lead to spread of dengue fever in U.S., say health officials

Climate change is likely increasing cases of malaria in Kenya, various viral diseases in Australia’s outback, and tropical dengue fever in the U.S. “Widespread appearance of dengue in the continental United States is a real possibility,” write Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. David Morens in a commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association. […]

Judge rules that natural-gas company can drill on billionaire’s land

When we picture candy billionaire Forrest Mars, we imagine him diving into pools of M&Ms à la the coin-swimming revelry of Scrooge McDuck. That said, Mars’ attempts to keep oil and gas drills off of his Montana land were foiled yesterday, when a state judge ruled that Pinnacle Gas Resources has the right to access […]

True costs of fossil fuels make renewables seem cheap in comparison

This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

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In November 2006, California voters rejected Proposition 87, a ballot initiative to raise the oil industry's taxes by $4 billion for research into renewable energy.

Four months before the ballot, a survey (PDF) by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 61 percent of likely voters favored the idea, including 51 percent of Republicans.

What changed between the survey and the vote? The oil industry pumped more than $60 million into a campaign to defeat the measure. Proposition 87 contained a specific provision that would have forbidden oil companies from passing the tax along to consumers. Nevertheless, a central part of the industry's message was that Proposition 87 would raise the price of gasoline.

On the Hill and in the voting booth, the specter of higher costs and taxes is the big weapon in the fossil-fuel industry's arsenal against climate action. The question is, what's the defense?

It is important to acknowledge and to anticipate that putting a price on carbon will raise energy prices. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released an estimate (PDF) last November that carbon pricing to achieve a modest 15 percent reduction in emissions would cost the poorest fifth of the population between $750 and $950 a year on average. That's big money to a family living on $13,000 -- and fossil-energy costs presumably would grow as carbon caps get stricter.

But we can mitigate those costs:

Umbra on (inherited) fur coats

Oh advice maven on all things green, I have a problem! I live in a very cold climate (read: Great White North) and my mother recently gave me my grandmother’s old fur coat. It is the warmest thing I have ever owned, but can I wear it? It was a gift from my grandfather to […]

Newest Air Jordan shoe will be made to sustainable standards, says Nike

The 23rd version of Nike’s iconic Air Jordan basketball shoe was designed with sustainability in mind, says the company. The Air Jordan XX3 will be manufactured with some recyclable materials and without solvent-based glues, while still meeting the performance standards demanded by pro-ball endorsers such as Chris Paul and Ray Allen. The shoe is still […]

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke on carbon-heavy touring

Wired this month features an interesting conversation between Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and musician David Byrne. In it, Yorke, a longtime vegan whose 2006 solo effort focused on global warming, mentions his carbon-related guilt about touring. Here’s the relevant clip: Yorke: … [At] the moment we make money principally from touring. Which is hard for […]

A new play with historical and environmental roots

If theater is your thing, here's a great short review of the new play The Boycott -- by Kathryn Blume -- that challenges assumptions about what environmental activism should look like. A humorous and serious one-woman show, it's a contemporary take on Aristophanes' comedy Lysistrata, in which women from Athens and Sparta refuse to sleep with their husbands until they stop the war. Blume's schedule brings the show to Alaska and Vermont this month, and New Hampshire and Missouri this spring.

Green groups will sue over feds’ missed polar-bear deadline

Discontented with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s announcement that it will not meet its deadline for deciding whether to list polar bears as a threatened species, the Big Three green groups — Greenpeace, NRDC, and the Center for Biological Diversity — have notified the government that they plan to sue.

British supermarket expands bike-trailer program

Bike to store. Pick up free bike trailer. Fill trailer with groceries. Hitch it up and ride home. Return trailer within three days. That’s the dreamy concept at the Waitrose supermarket chain in Jolly Olde Englande, where the free-trailer scheme is being tried out at a handful of stores. Says a department manager, “There are […]

Clinton and McCain win New Hampshire primaries, attract green voters

Unseasonably warm weather brought out a record number of voters in New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday — and is it mere coincidence that the majority of them voted for candidates with real plans to tackle climate change? Well, OK, probably yes. Hillary Clinton was the victor on the Democratic side; she’s got a strong platform […]