Latest Articles

Lawyers instead of engineers

As a warm-up for suing California over fuel-economy standards, automakers are … suing Vermont over fuel-economy standards.

Dirty money

And Rainforest Action Network has the soap.  Get scrubbing.

On climate, U.S. attitudes are split along partisan lines

Since it came out about a year ago, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's climate change documentary, seems to have pushed the issue into mainstream consciousness.

Millions saw the movie itself -- but they were largely true believers anyway. Perhaps more importantly, Gore's Academy Award has earned him a wider audience among the potentially undecided: 39.9 million TV viewers tuned in for the Academy Awards themselves, plus 49 million saw Gore on Oprah. Heck, combined, that's more than the total number of people who voted for George W. Bush in 2006! It's almost as good as being on American Idol.

But, how much effect has this media blitz had on attitudes among Americans?

Sadly, it's not as dramatic as you may think.

Er, food data that is

I'm not much of a gourmand, but I do love to play with food. Well, food data, anyway. So when I happened upon the Food System Factoids blog, I totally pigged out.

The menu may not be for everyone, but if you have a craving for analyses of food pricing trends, or evaluations of carbon emissions from U.S. agriculture, you'll find plenty to satisfy.

Take, for instance, this post on the relative change in prices of soft drinks and processed fats vs. fruits and veggies. The data's a bit old now, but what a story. From 1985 to 2000, the real, inflation-adjusted cost of fresh fruits and veggies went up almost 40 percent, while the costs of soft drinks went down by nearly a quarter.

Including a funny one from Olberman

What’s that? You say you’d like another Gore post? I’m here to serve! Here’s Keith Olberman with a segment that is, per usual, both funnier and more educational than the vast bulk of what you find on cable news: Here’s a clip put together by Politics TV — a good clip from Gore’s testimony: And […]

From Hogs to Hogwarts

Tee party Check out these biker-chic tops made from bamboo and printed with PVC-free ink. Perfect for the beach. Or climbing trees with your twin. Or humping posts. Or awkwardly leaping. So basically, what we do every day. Photo: Chopper Couture Déjà poo Things to look forward to: cavorting on cow crap and expounding on […]

Oil and gas lobbyist pleads guilty

Rotten at the core, corrupt at the top.

Rep. Henry Waxman …

… introduced his Safe Climate Act on Wed. It would reduce U.S. GHG emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. More on the bill here.

Cute kids, people in polar bear costumes, and politicians, unite!

The eclipse that was Gore’s testimony blocked out the light in D.C., light that might otherwise have been shining on Climate Crisis Action Day, which took place Tuesday. Thankfully, the Post was on it. An estimated 1,500 gathered to hear politicians, environmentalists, some cute kids, and people in polar bear costumes speak and rally for […]

Goldman Sachs and other financial powerhouses get into the Texas wind biz

What is Goldman Sachs doing in rural Texas? Probably some of its bankers have wondered that themselves, when they find they’re three hours from the nearest latte. A Texas turbine. Photo: NREL / Cielo Wind Power One of Goldman’s subsidiaries, Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy, is constructing a $600 million, 400-megawatt wind farm in the boonies […]