Latest Articles

Stories on smart grid starting to pop up

I’m late on this too, but do check out what is the first straight news story (that I’ve seen anyway) on Gore’s "electranet" — i.e. smart grid — proposal. Congrats to Lisa Friedman. It’s a nice piece of work, making the simple point that Gore is not talking about science fiction. The tools to make […]

So keep it up

Think about this article -- descriptively titled "Legislature flooded with bills about climate crisis; poll driven politicians see need to tackle global warming" -- the next time you get an email asking you to call or email your representative on an environmental issue. You keep it up long enough and they get it:

New energy technologies are starting to attack each other

I suppose this was inevitable: In what one industry representative calls a struggle for supremacy, advocates of various sources of alternative energy are beginning to point out the competition’s warts. “Everyone wants to use the energy crisis as leverage to support his solution,” said Bob Rose, executive director of the Fuel Cell Council. But with […]

It’s the wrong lever for creating social change

On Saturday night, I was on a panel at the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival on the subject of "communicating about climate change." My co-panelists were KC Golden of Climate Solutions, LeeAnne Beres of Earth Ministry, and Sean Schmidt of the Sustainable Style Foundation. The moderator was Steve Scher of local public radio station KUOW. […]

Maddening

I’m way, way, waaay behind on this one, but I nonetheless want to draw your attention to two pieces on the massive, ongoing PR push from the nuclear industry. The first is an editorial in the Columbia Journalism Review on the maddening phenomenon of mainstream news reporters accepting the claims of paid shills (i.e., Patrick […]

Some musings and analysis

The discussion of Massachusetts v. EPA is well underway thanks to David's summary of the action. I'm going to provide some thoughts about each of the three issues involved in the case, as well as some of the possible implications.

The outcome of Mass. v. EPA boils down to one thing: the Supreme Court has ordered EPA to think again. While that may not sound like much, in the world of administrative law, it is a total rout for the Bush administration.

While the outcome is good news, this decision was as close as they come. I'm not surprised that the Court split 5 to 4 on the issue of standing. However, this divide extended to all three questions before the court.

How Many Queens Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb?

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth studying how to green her palaces Word on the street is HRH the Queen of England Her Majesty With the Breath of Baby’s Breath Elizabeth is looking at ways to lessen the impact of her palaces. Proposals being floated include switching Buckingham Palace’s 40,000 lights to efficient bulbs, building a turbine in […]

Then There’s the Short Term

Long-term radiation risks lower than some daily hazards, study finds Living in fear of a nuclear meltdown? Now you can relax! A new study says the long-term risks faced by survivors of two of the world’s most notorious nuclear episodes — the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and the 1945 bombings of Japan — are lower than […]

Get the Chertoff My Back

States worry as Homeland Security issues chemical-plant rules Funny story: Of the 15,000 U.S. chemical plants, as many as 7,000 are in highly populated areas and at high risk for an accident or attack. Ha! Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security released the first comprehensive federal rules for tracking the security of such sites. Which […]

The Engine On the Bus Goes Plug, Plug, Plug

U.S. states beginning to invest in plug-in hybrid school buses Once upon a time, someone had an idea: let’s transport U.S. schoolkids in big yellow buses that spew diesel fumes and have no seatbelts. The nation embraced the idea — though oddly, the plan to dangle a knife above each seat was scrapped — but […]