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  • At Chernobyl, it was all under control

    A memorial rests in the shadow of the Chernobyl nuclear plant.Photo: Matti PaavonenThis piece was written by John Perlin. As a visiting scholar last year at the Linz Institute for Organic Solar Cells, I met Valery N. Bliznyuk, a visiting professor at Linz and a permanent faculty member at Western Michigan University. His fascinating work in […]

    Miller-McCune Energy

  • Rahm Emanuel could be f**king great for America’s cities

    Rahm Emanuel as mayor of Chicago? This is going to be f**king great.Photo: Adam FagenSo can the bull-headed, bare-knuckled, notoriously foul-mouthed Rahm Emanuel help save America’s cities? In May, the former Obama chief of staff will be sworn in (and yes, his ex-boss has made that joke) as mayor of Chicago. And the nation’s mayors […]

    Sarah Goodyear Cities

  • Drilling down on oil

    It may be true, but domestic oil drilling won’t help.This post originally appeared on the Great Energy Challenge blog, in partnership with National Geographic and Planet Forward.  It’s an unfortunate fact that stress has a way of making people crazy. At the moment, rising oil prices are creating a lot of stress. One of the […]

    James Barrett Energy

  • Congressional asshats get the old, white parody they deserve

    Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” has never felt fresher than in this stirring rendition from our friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council. But that’s sort of damning it with faint praise. Upton BillYou know Fred Upton’s Bill will make you ill I thought he’d never be a smokestack guyBut now he hates clean air I […]

    Christopher Mims Politics

  • Al Gore hasn’t written his new book and people already hate it

    Al Gore is penning a new book about “the political, social and economic forces that are shaping what America and the world will become in ensuing decade.” It sounds exactly like Fareed Zakaria’s The Post American World. Even though his book has yet to be written, people with exclusive access to the inside of the […]

    Christopher Mims Politics

  • Sorry, but the U.S. isn’t about to wean itself off of nuclear

    The reality is, the United States doesn’t have the option to walk away from nuclear power, which supplies almost 9% of the nation’s energy and about 20% of its electricity. […] Nuclear energy’s drawbacks are glaring at the moment, but it’s worth remembering that no major source of energy the United States is using comes […]

    Christopher Mims Energy

  • Representative warns against ‘overreacting’ to tsunami by saving lives or whatever

    Shorter Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.): “If the GOP cuts tsunami monitoring, people will die.” If you cut on detection of tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, severe weather events, weather buoys, satellite observation and weather patterns, those sorts of things, people will die. Shorter Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa): “Come on, let’s not overreact to a few thousand people dying […]

    Jess Zimmerman Politics

  • Still giving lessons in how not to communicate

    The White House is just lousy at messaging across the board, as I and others have noted many times. Obama also seems to have bad luck.  He endorsed offshore drilling shortly before the biggest offshore oil disaster in history.  He embraced new nuclear power plants in a speech last February, and now we are seeing […]

    Joseph Romm Politics

  • If Rush Limbaugh’s heart fell out of his chest and into a bowl of raisins, you wouldn’t spot it

    [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.1011853&w=620&h=511&fv=config%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fmediamatters.org%2Fembed%2Fcfg3%3Fid%3D201103150020] Rush Limbaugh is laughing at Japan’s earthquake refugees. “They’ve given us the Prius. Even now, refugees are recycling their garbage.” Here, he began to laugh, continuing, “and yet, Gaia levels them! Just wipes them out!” h/t John Rennie for the headline Read more: “Rush Limbaugh Mocks Japan Quake Refugees [VIDEO],” The Huffington Post

    Christopher Mims Politics

  • Polluters have the tech they need to reduce toxic mercury and make Americans healthier

    Listen up, polluters.Photo: sara b.Yesterday, EPA released plans for its long-awaited “utility MACT” rule, which would regulate toxic air pollutants like mercury. I want to address one contested point in particular — the availability of technology to reduce mercury emissions — but first some scene setting. The benefits of making Americans healthier From a health […]

    David Roberts Energy