Climate Energy

Daryl Hannah gives you her [lawyer's] number

Here's Daryl Hannah preparing to be arrested at the Keystone XL protests -- she's writing a contact number, probably for her lawyer, on her arm so she doesn't forget it. And that's a nice hand-lettered sign! Hannah was arrested today outside the White House gates, and I originally was going to lead with that video and title the post "Daryl Hannah in handcuffs" but then I felt dirty about it.

Close coal: D.C.-area coal-fired power plant to close

Just a month after Michael Bloomberg used it as a backdrop for his $50 million donation to the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, officials in Alexandria, Va., announced a plan to shut down the plant.

Despite everything, natural gas is still cleaner than coal

Back in April, the EPA officially recognized that drilling for natural gas releases more methane than the agency had thought and offered a new methodology for estimating methane emissions connected to natural gas. The Worldwatch Institute, which does sustainability research, and the Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors, who do pretty much what their name says they do, crunched the numbers and found that, despite this, natural gas still releases less atmosphere-clogging gas than coal.

James Hansen arrested at tar-sands protest

Prominent NASA climate scientist James Hansen, a vocal proponent of climate change action who has long warned about the greenhouse gas effects of tar-sands development, has been arrested while protesting outside the White House. Hansen went down there intending to be arrested, and it worked! So good job, Jim. Hopefully your message gets through.

Solar stunner: U.S. exports almost $2 billion of solar products

With all the talk about China's dominance in the solar sector, you might not think that the U.S. is a net exporter of solar products. But it is, to the tune of $1.8 billion.

American solar exports increased 83 percent in 2010

Who says America doesn't make things? Last year, we exported $5.63 billion worth of solar products: photovoltaic cells, modules, investors, capital equipment, polysilicon, and more, according to a new report from GTM Research and Solar Energy Industries Association. That's an 83 percent increase over the previous year

Brit gives NIMBYists the tongue-lashing they deserve

Writing in the Times (of New York, not London), Roger Cohen points out that even though 82 percent of Brits are in favor of wind power, only one in three on-shore projects is ever built, owing to "Not in My Back Yard" attitudes. Apparently Her Majesty’s citizens are all for wind power as long as it happens in one of the colonies. (“We still have colonies, right?”)

Critical List: Gore analogizes skeptics to racists; why Irene calmed down

According to Al Gore, climate skeptics are the new racists: they say crazy things in casual conversation that others let slide -- for now.

Here’s why Irene gave NYC a break.

NASA scientist James Hansen is planning to be arrested today at the Keystone XL protest. He told Climatewire that if President Obama approves the pipeline, he "was just greenwashing all along, like the other well-oiled coal-fired politicians."

State Department backs Keystone XL pipeline

The atmospheric pressure is dropping in D.C. as the hurricane prepares to move through. But in front of the White House, where protestors are pushing Obama to nix the Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline, the pressure has probably just ratcheted up. The State Department just released a report saying that the pipeline would have "minimal" environmental effects, which is a big step towards approving its construction. Thanks a lot, State Department.

Don’t run with green scissors

A new "Green Scissors" report proposes to trim government spending by eliminating "subsidies and programs that both harm the environment and waste taxpayer dollars."