Latest Articles

Alito Bit More Critter-Hating

Supreme Court sides with developers on Endangered Species Act case Like a tormented parent with two kids in a spelling bee, environmentalists watched in horror this week as the U.S. Supreme Court judged the relative heft of two federal eco-laws. The case in question pitted green groups against the National Association of Home Builders. At […]

The latest from Kunstler

Jim Kunstler’s heard the latest data on oil exports/imports, and he sees trouble a’comin’: The implication in [the coming dropoff in oil imports] is that the activities that have become “normal” for us during the post World War Two era will very shortly become untenable. An economy based on suburban expansion and incessant motoring is […]

Reps to discuss dropping the tax break on massive SUVs

For the “wow, about time” files: the tax write-off for Hummers might be a thing of yesteryear, if one legislator gets his way. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) has introduced legislation to remove the $25,000-or-so tax break that people who drive massive SUVs and Hummers have been getting for years. The break was intended to help […]

In Black, climate-conscious youth jazz band, answers questions

In Black. Photos courtesy In Black What work do you do? We are in a jazz band called In Black. We are Carson, Christian, Langston, Lati, and Lauren, and we’re all ages 14 to 16. This week, In Black is doing a Solutions Tour in Southern California to promote awareness of climate change and how […]

I’m sure whoever has the best argument will win, right?

There’s an interesting piece today in CongressNow on the debate over auctioning vs. giving away credits in a cap-and-trade system. (CN requires a subscription, which you can get for the low, low price of $1500 or so. I’m on the 10-day evaluation thing, so enjoy these pieces while they come, ’cause there’s no way Grist […]

It ain’t working

The Washington Post has a piece about Obama’s attempts to split the difference (thread the needle? straddle the fence?) on the subject of liquid coal. Y’all are probably sick of hearing me talk about this (watch for an op-ed soon!), so I’ll outsource the making of the basic point to Brian Beutler and Brad Plumer, […]

Climate change science questioned

In an op-ed in today's Washington Post, Emily Yoffe asks an interesting question:

All this is not to say that it's not getting warmer and that curbing our profligate environmental ways is not a commendable and necessary goal. But perhaps this movement is sowing the seeds of its own destruction -- even as it believes the human species has sown its own. There must be a limit to how many calamitous films, books and television shows we, and our children, can absorb.

It doesn't seem sustainable to expect people to remain terrified by such a disinterested, often benign -- it was so nice eating out on the patio! -- and even unpredictable enemy.

China trumps U.S. as biggest CO2 polluter, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: And They’re Off Canary You Hear Me Now? Be Still Our Beating Hearts Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Gameboys Search Engine Engine Search Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: The Hand That Feeds Pay for the Rays […]

Don’t call it a subsidy

David Roberts' recent post compelled some ideas that have been germinating for awhile, but are too long for just a comment on his post. Namely: we should stop talking about the need to subsidize green technologies, and instead frame the debate as a need to level the playing field.

An annual conference for perennial inspiration

Westerners are known for their pluck and willingness to solve problems with grit and imagination. Combating climate change, developing renewable energy, promoting rural economies and local agriculture, strengthening communities, and ensuring equitable access to transit ... these are all pieces of a Western manifesto put forward by the Sopris Foundation's great annual conference, this year in Missoula from July 13-15.

Elected officials, planners, ranchers and farmers, grantmakers, citizens, activists, and entrepreneurs are there for this indispensable conversation every year. How about you?