Climate Climate & Energy

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  • The Scene in Louisiana: Disaster Looming

    I’m in Venice, LA today, near where the leading edge of the Gulf Coast oil spill has started to ooze ashore. Despite the sense of looming disaster you get from talking to people here, there are at least two groups seeing an uptick in business: The staff at the bar & restaurant at the Venice […]

    Miles Grant Climate & Energy

  • Student Governments Urge Congress to Support Clean Energy Education

    A group of more than 100 university and college student government presidents submitted a letter (PDF download) last week urging Congress to launch a national program for clean energy science and engineering education. The presidents – representing more than one million American students – warned Congress that advanced energy education is critical for U.S. leadership in the […]

    Teryn Norris Climate & Energy

  • What a Difference a Spill Makes

    There are so many questions the spill in the Gulf now raises. What will be the impact on offshore drilling — which has been one of the few growth sectors of US domestic oil production? What kind of political backlash will it produce? Already President Obama and the administration are in damage control mode. How […]

    Frank Sesno Climate & Energy

  • Gulf of Mexico: from magnificent resource to industrial sacrifice zone

    Fire and a vast oil spill, on top of one of the globe’s most productive fisheries. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard The Gulf of Mexico is a magnificent resource: a kind of natural engine for the production of wild, highly nutritious foodstuff. Here’s how the EPA describes it: Gulf fisheries are some of the most productive […]

    Tom Philpott Climate & Energy

  • Senior military leaders announce support for climate bill

    Senior military leaders announce support for climate bill The Pentagon affirmed earlier this year that “Climate change, energy security, and economic stability are inextricably linked.” Today an unprecedented 33 retired US military generals and admirals announced that they support comprehensive climate and energy legislation in a letter to Senators Reid and McConnell as well as […]

    Joseph Romm Climate & Energy

  • Can global warming give you kidney stones?

    The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt van RijnPhoto: Wikimedia Commons. The 1995 Chicago heat wave was one of the most brutal weather events the United States has ever experienced. On July 13, the thermostat hit 106 degrees F. Many of the city’s poor and elderly residents had no air conditioning; many of […]

    Kate Sheppard Climate & Energy

  • They’re still blowing up our mountains and there still oughta be a law

    Cross-posted from iLoveMountains.org A month ago, before the nation’s attention was drawn to the tragedies at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia and the oil rig off the Louisiana coast, the EPA issued a blockbuster announcement about a strict new guidance for the permitting of mountaintop removal mines in Appalachia. The announcement left many people — reporters, politicians, […]

    MattWasson Climate & Energy

  • Hey, Harry, thanks for pimping my book!

    Dear Sen. Harry Reid, By derailing or delaying — or whatever it is you’re doing to — the introduction of a climate bill in the U.S. Senate, you have once again raised the question about whether the richest, most technologically sophisticated nation that has ever lived is capable of taking swift action to save itself […]

    Jeff Goodell Climate & Energy

  • 14 buildings compete to be the Biggest Loser (of energy waste)

    The EPA draws inspiration from The Biggest Loser in a new competition that pits 14 buildings against each other to see which can trim its energy usage the most. The National Building Competition is explicitly modeled after the weight-loss reality TV show, spotlighting structures that include a 23-story Manhattan office building, a San Diego Marriott […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Cities

  • EPA scientist warns Atlantic seaboard will be swallowed by rising seas

    For most of the 20th century, Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, was known for its boardwalk, amusement park, and wide, sandy beaches, popular with daytrippers from Washington, D.C. “The bathing beach has a frontage of three miles,” boasted a tourist brochure from about 1900, “and is equal, if not superior, to any beach on the Atlantic Coast.” […]

    Josh Harkinson Climate & Energy