Latest Articles

The eco-depredations of the tobacco industry

Brad Plumer points to what is no doubt going to be a fascinating story on the environmental evils of the tobacco industry. Clicking the link reveals that the story itself won’t be available until Oct. 1, but using his prodigious powers of precognition, Brad excerpts this bit: Without even factoring in the paper wrapping, packaging, […]

Bill Clinton kicks off annual meeting with big names and big aims

I'm not sure when Al Gore and Bill Clinton were last in the same room together, let alone on a stage together, but they reunited publicly today at the start of the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting. (And, to focus on the superficial for a moment, their handshake -- clumsy and brief, an afterthought really -- didn't look at all like the sort of handshake you might expect a former U.S. president and his erstwhile second-in-command to share.)

Clinton introduced and honored several people before the plenary officially kicked off, including Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) and the president of the Florida Power & Light Company, for their joint efforts to expand solar power as a means of bringing Florida's emissions into line with the goals of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. It wasn't the sexiest thing I've seen all week, but it may be of higher impact to recognize work like that in a room full of rich, powerful people than to have Al Gore speak about climate change for the kerjillionth time.

Climate-skeptic books abound on Amazon’s top sellers list

An Inconvenient Truth is so last year! Al Gore's book may have been No. 1 in 2006, but the global warming deniers and delayers are outselling everyone this year.

Of course, Bjørn Lomborg's collection of cherry-picked misinformation, Cool It is the top-selling book in four categories: Climatology, Climate Changes, Public Policy, and even Conservation. But who knew that the top book in both Meteorology and Weather was the Competitive Enterprise Institute's The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism) -- a book whose title would be accurate if only the word "politically" were removed?

And the no. 2 book in both Climate Changes and Weather is coauthored by world-class denier Fred Singer -- Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years. Sounds like disaster movie dialogue: "It's unstoppable, I tell you, unstoppable."

Bush administration pressured to act on climate by banks, international leaders

The pressure is rising on the Bush administration to take action on climate change. This week, some of the world’s leading banks are gathering as lobbying group International Carbon Investors and Services to urge the U.S. and other developed nations to introduce a lightly regulated carbon-trading program. And, in anticipation of Bush’s planned summit on […]

EPA may soon approve toxic alternative to ozone-depleting pesticide, despite criticism

To replace the toxic, ozone-depleting pesticide methyl bromide — a favorite of stubborn U.S. berry growers — the U.S. EPA is reportedly set to soon approve an alternative that doesn’t deplete ozone but is “one of the more toxic chemicals used in manufacturing” according to opponents, including six Nobel Prize-winning chemists. Even though the replacement […]

Inspector general’s report finds problems with royalty-collection program at Interior

A new report by the U.S. Interior Department’s inspector general points to a “profound failure” of the technology that the Minerals Management Service uses to monitor the roughly $10 billion in oil and gas royalty payments from energy companies each year. But it’s not just the technology. Higher-ups in the agency apparently decided that even […]

Dingell wants feedback on his carbon tax bill

Rep. John Dingell is going to put a draft of his carbon tax bill on his website this Thursday, to solicit feedback. (Did I say "tax"? I meant "emissions fee.") Reportedly, this marks the first time Dingell’s done something like this. I dunno. If he’s just introducing the tax to sabotage the rest of the […]

On-demand water heaters rock

It's totally goofy, but I love my water heater. It's an "on demand" (also called tankless) unit, so it only turns on when I need to do the dishes or wash some clothes, or do both at the same time, even. I like that it doesn't heat a big tank of water 24/7 on the off chance that I'll need it at any moment. Thus it's small, and when it does turn on it's efficient. When not in use, it's completely off. Even though it runs on gas, it has no eternally burning pilot light, and I like that, too. It's three years old now and I've never had any issues with it.

Ubiquitous in Europe and elsewhere, tankless water heaters are gaining popularity in the U.S. too. So if you're in the market for a new water heater and don't have the resources for a solar domestic hot water system, have a look: Rinnai seems to be the best manufacturer. These units save space and resources -- and over time, money.

Editorial questions the sequestration promise

The New Republic has a fine, fine editorial about coal today. It calls into question whether spending up to $40 billion on the ten-years-hence promise of carbon sequestration in order to save the coal industry from obsolescence is the best investment we could make to fight global warming. The weak link in the argument is […]

Environmental Defense’s climate ads go negative, miss the mark

There's no shortage of messaging on climate change these days, but the latest ad I came across concerned me in the same way that Greenpeace's pissy kid ad did. I just heard the radio version of Environmental Defense's two TV ads (which this hard-rock station was repeating back-to-back, for extra negative impact), which tear a page from the same playbook: "The Gift" features kids reading off a list of lousy things that adults are giving them, like droughts, stronger hurricanes, etc. And then there's the one about time running out alongside a long list of bad things to come called "Tick," and one of a girl about to be hit by train thrown in for fun.

Sure, it's the kids whose future will be most impacted, but messaging with fear and guilt is not the way to win the hearts and minds of adults, as Gristmillers discussed here and in many other threads recently. The big green groups really need to get on the positive bus as much as possible, or we're going to see the public ignoring the "threats" of climate change and risk missing the opportunities inherent in getting off of fossil fuels.