Latest Articles

Midnight Oil frontman is Australia’s new environment minister

Peter Garrett, former singer for rock band Midnight Oil, has been appointed the environment minister in Australia’s new regime. Garrett, who has been a member of the Australian Parliament since 2004, will be a duet with new Minister for Climate Change and Water Penny Wong.

FEMA sets deadline for Katrina trailer park closures

What’s worse than being a storm victim housed in a formaldehyde-soaked trailer that makes you sick? How about getting kicked out of said dwelling? FEMA has announced an accelerated schedule for moving 3,700 families out of trailers set up to house Hurricane Katrina refugees, pledging to be “with them every step of the way” as […]

Is Google betting on a carbon tax?

Google Inc. has a new project, "Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal." Google is preparing to bet megabucks, mega-engineers, and its cutting-edge reputation on its ability to propel solar thermal power, wind turbines, and other renewable electricity up the innovation curve and under the cost of coal-fired power, Reuters reported Tuesday.

"Our goal is to produce one gigawatt [1,000 megawatts] of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades," said Larry Page, Google's cofounder and president of products, according to Reuters.

To which we at the Carbon Tax Center say: Good luck, and don't forget to hire the lobbyists. You're going to need them to help win a carbon tax, because without the tax, your goal of renewable energy cheaper than coal is likely to remain out of reach.

On the leadership qualities the next president should possess

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

We are the nation we are because giants have walked among us. America was founded by giants. Others have appeared since to guide us through crises or to great things: Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King. We have had leaders whose oratory has, sometimes in a single sentence, rallied the American people around their obligations of citizenship, the morality of equal rights, the spirit of exploration, and the compassion our blessed nation should show to those who have never known security or abundance.

Are giants walking among us today? Are any of them in the present field of presidential candidates?

Polls indicate that most Americans agree the current president has demonstrated some qualities we do not want in the White House. I'd like to offer an unabashedly old-fashioned and idealistic answer about the qualities we do want, drawn from the Presidential Climate Action Plan.

EPA sued by 12 states over relaxed toxic-chemical rule

The U.S. EPA’s moves to relax the nation’s toxics reporting rule will not go unchallenged. Twelve states have announced they’re suing the agency over rule changes to the Toxics Release Inventory that allow companies to file less-informative reports and escape reporting if they release less than 5,000 pounds of toxic chemicals, up from the previous […]

A guest essay from climate scientist James Hansen

The following is an essay distributed by email to a number of friends and journalists by pioneering climate scientist James Hansen. It is a response to controversy generated by his testimony before Iowa’s utility board, in which he likened coal trains to “boxcars headed to crematoria.” —– Emails received regarding the letter from the National […]

Heat waves take a toll on Australian fruit bats

Climate change has, ahem, taken a swing at bats. Unable to deal with scorching heat waves, thousands of Australian fruit bats have flapped their wings, panted, drooled — then dropped dead. Which begs the question: Do bat researchers spend a lot of time yelling, “Quick — to the bat cave!” We really, really hope so.

The corn industry hopes Congress will pull its fat out of the fire

I used to love to start my writing day by taking a poke or two at the corn-based ethanol industry — you know, the biggest greenwash ever. Photo: mrobenalt These days, the debunking of corn fuel almost seems like it’s piling on. Today, two major newspapers — the LA Times and The Wall Street Journal […]

A new report lays a road map for creating green jobs while fighting the climate crisis

A major new report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) provides a detailed roadmap for avoiding catastrophic global warming and restoring our energy security, while maintaining economic development.

The report, "Capturing the Energy Opportunity: Creating a Low Carbon Economy," is by CAP's John Podesta, Kitt Batten, and Todd Stern. It is well worth reading, and I say that not because I am a senior fellow at CAP, but because the 88-page report lays out the most comprehensive set of plausible job-creating climate/energy policies I have seen.

The authors understand the scale of the problem:

The challenge we face is nothing short of the conversion of an economy sustained by high-carbon energy -- putting both our national security and the health of our planet at serious risk -- to one based on low-carbon, sustainable sources of energy. The scale of this undertaking is immense and its potential enormous.

The urgency of this issue demands a president willing to make the low-carbon energy challenge a top priority in the White House -- a centerpiece not only of his or her energy policy but also of his or her economic program -- to produce broad-based growth and sustain American economic leadership in the 21st century. This task is so encompassing it will demand that the incoming president in 2009 reorganize the mission and responsibility of all relevant government agencies -- economic, national security, and environmental.

The report explores the crucial steps needed to meet the challenge:

Umbra on living Christmas trees

Hi Umbra, I’m surprised that in your column on Christmas trees, you didn’t mention the option of living trees, although I know they cannot be subjected to our warm indoor temperatures for very long. Can you discuss the option of living trees, how to treat them indoors, and what to do with them after the […]