Latest Articles

In Sydney, that is … or online

… if you’re in Sydney, that is. But thankfully, even if you’re not in Australia — or Shanghai or London or New York Jersey — you can still catch all the Live Earth goodness. Here’s how: Log on to MSN’s Live Earth site, where they’ll be streaming the concerts as they happen. They’ve also got […]

Planning ahead for Beijing, London, and Sochi

Today, On the Ball brings you Olympics, Olympics, Olympics! And, if you read far enough, a reflection on undergarments. Beijing photo: vizzo via Flickr As we are now officially more than halfway through 2007, Beijing is getting all geared up for its Olympic games, to be held Aug. 8-24, 2008. On Wednesday, there were numerous […]

Final point awarded in Gore v. Inhofe

Remember how Gore wanted to have the U.S. Live Earth concert in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall? And then Inhofe was all "it’s partisan, you can’t do it, neiner, neiner." And then Gore was all "fine, we’ll have it at Giants Stadium in New Jersey." And then Inhofe was all "fine!" And then they […]

Car company on national tour to pimp hybrids

If you want to learn more about hybrids, or uh, at least Toyota’s take on hybrids, the company is on a “Highway to the Future” national tour to hook some more folks on their line of hybrid cars, talk about alternative fuels, and offer some ideas about reducing your carbon footprint. And as we learned […]

The LA Times reports on global warming and skinny whales

Kenneth Weiss, a surfer/reporter who last year headed the team that won a Pulitzer for the Los Angeles Times for a series on our trashed oceans, returns to the front page today with a story about how global warming appears to be damaging the arctic feeding grounds of the gray whale, leading to "skinny whales" and unusual behaviors.

The whales are journeying far to the north of their usual territory looking for the sea-bed crustaceans that make up the bulk of their diet -- and foraging off California and along the western coast as well.

The story tops the front page of the print edition, but for some reason is buried in the California/local edition online. Nonetheless, it's worth a look, for the graphs, maps, and photographs, as well as the text. Here's the bottom line:

Interviews and info on the presidential candidates’ environmental positions

Updated 22 Aug 2008   Forget boxers or briefs. You want to know about the presidential candidates’ stances on energy and the environment, right? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Compare the candidates’ green positions using our handy chart. Get a quick rundown on each candidate below, where you’ll also find links to interviews […]

Offsets should be the last thing you need to turn to

Before you pay others to reduce their emissions on your behalf, you need to do everything reasonably possible to reduce your own emissions first. As the saying goes, "Physician, heal thyself," before presuming to heal other people.

This rule is so obvious I almost forgot it. And yet many people, including Google and PG&E, don't seem to get it.

The whole point of offsets is not to make you feel good, and it's not to allow you to continue polluting as much as you want (by, say, supporting new coal plants or other dirty forms of power). Offsets are cheap and in some sense bastardized emissions reductions (more on this in a future post).

In general, the point of offsets is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and specifically to allow you to offset any emissions that are left over after you have cleaned up your own act -- or to offset emissions from one-time events such as concerts.

Mike D of the Beastie Boys drops science on green tours, politics, and Live Earth

The Beastie Boys are (L to R) MCA, Adrock, and Mike D. Photo: Jennifer Hall “I’m recording [this interview] so I can send the tapes to Jerry Lewis; he archives all of my interviews,” Beastie Boy Mike D deadpanned at the other end of the phone line. “In addition to being an all-around comedian and […]

How progressive can legislation be if it’s never allowed to make progress?

Dan Walters writes in the Sacramento Bee:

The messy departure of the chairman and executive director of the Air Resources Board, if nothing else, reflects the extremely intense, largely clandestine struggle in the Capitol over how Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's much-ballyhooed anti-global warming crusade is to be implemented.

Schwarzenegger says he fired ARB Chairman Robert Sawyer last week because the veteran energy researcher was moving too slowly on cleaning up the San Joaquin Valley's dirty air. But Sawyer and ARB Executive Director Catherine Witherspoon, who resigned Monday, have a far different version, one that rings truer. They contend that Schwarzenegger's chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, and other aides wanted them to slow down on implementing anti-global warming legislation passed last year.

Leaving Dustbusters in the Dust

High-tech gadgets will overtake appliances as energy-suckers, says report Primed to overtake kitchen appliances and lighting as the biggest drain on domestic power, high-tech gadgets — we’re talkin’ to you, iPhone — will use nearly half an average household’s energy by 2020, according to U.K. nonprofit Energy Saving Trust. In a report cleverly titled “The […]