Latest Articles

A guest essay from Greenpeace scientists

A while back, after some criticisms of his company on this site, I ran an essay by Russ George, CEO of Planktos, defending his work. What follows is a response to that essay from the UK-based Greenpeace Science Unit. —– Russ George, CEO of self-professed ‘ecorestoration’ company Planktos, seems increasingly convinced that opposition to his […]

A guest essay from Geoffrey Holland

This is a guest essay by Geoffrey Holland, co-author (with James Provenzano) of The Hydrogen Age: Empowering a Clean Energy Future, which will be out in the fall. I know there are many hydrogen skeptics in the audience, so remember: keep it civil and substantive. —– Of the vexing challenges humanity faces — and there […]

Thanks for the observation, Washington Post

Today’s “I’m a journalist and I’m objective, here let me prove it to you!” gem of the day, nestled in an otherwise relevant and interesting Washington Post article on the costs of climate change: Some have argued that the effects of global warming will be positive as well as negative, and Frumhoff acknowledged that there […]

Tell Us What You Flaunt, What You Really Really Flaunt

Spice Girls reunion tour will be — gasp — carbon-intensive We’ve been looking for an excuse to mention the Spice Girls reunion since it was announced two weeks ago, and we’ve finally got one. It seems that — brace yourself — the group’s world tour will not be eco-friendly. In fact, each Girl will get […]

Sounds Perfecto to Us

Organic farming can yield more food than conventional ag, says analysis In developed countries, organic farming can yield nearly as much food as pesticide-heavy agriculture, and in developing countries can produce up to three times as much chow, says a new analysis of 293 published studies on organic yields. “My hope is that we can […]

Unhappy Feet

Manatees may lose endangered status, penguins may get it Manatees and penguins and hornshell clams, oh my! Yes, it’s time for an endangered-species update. Flush with success from removing the bald eagle from the endangered-species list, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is suggesting that Florida manatees be downlisted from “endangered” to “threatened” status. It’s […]

Now That’s an Exit Strategy

Sens. Bingaman, Specter introduce industry-backed climate legislation Two U.S. senators have introduced climate legislation that’s a bold compromise or a copout, depending whom you ask. The Low Carbon Economy Act, sponsored by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), would cut current U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions 60 percent by 2050, using a cap-and-trade system that […]

Pop band Maroon 5 launches ‘carbon neutral’ tour

Grammy-winning pop quintet Maroon 5 have teamed up with Global Cool to green their upcoming arena tour in support of their sophomore album It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. From the press release: Global Cool will work closely with Maroon 5’s production team, management, and the boys themselves to reduce the carbon emissions produced by […]

Whole Foods CEO secretly hearts Wal-Mart

In January 2005, a poster on a Yahoo message board made a bold prediction on how Whole Foods stock would fare. “13 years from now Whole Foods will be a $800+ stock,” he insisted, adding that “the company is going to keep on strongly growing for another 10+ years.” Looking at the company’s stock chart […]

Malawian man powers village with a $16 windmill

A great story via Inhabitat: With all the sobering news lately about global warming and war, it’s important to remember all the positive things that are also going on in the world at any given time. Case in point: the story of intrepid Malawi youth William Kamkwamba who, despite having no education or training, recently […]