Silicon Valley investor Vinod Khosla chats about the promise of ethanol

Venture capitalist and ethanol booster Vinod Khosla. Billionaires are piling onto the biofuels bandwagon. Bill Gates is doing it. Richard...

How green will the 110th Congress be?

“You’d have to go back to the Enlightenment to see such a big change in worldviews.” That’s how Environmental Working...

California’s emissions caps will spur the nation to follow

California has a long history of trailblazing environmental regulations that eventually spur federal action. The Clean Air Act and efficiency standards for appliances are good examples. Why does this happen? Sometimes it's because the rules prove proponents right and doubters wrong. And sometimes it is the regulated industries themselves that lobby for the expansion -- better a single standard than a patchwork of state regs.

So, will this week's accord on AB 32 in California result in a federal cap on carbon?

Some think so.

Anti-Kelo measures cover for anti-planning measures

There was an odd little story in USA Today on Sunday, covering the raft of so-called "property rights" initiatives on the November ballot throughout the Western U.S.

I say odd, because it almost completely misses the point.

Signs of hope in the elephant party

In a week's time, the political climate in America will change -- or so the experts tell us. Pollster Charlie Cook, the "Oracle of Washington," calls this a "wave" election, compares it to 1994, and predicts Republicans will lose "at least 20 to 35 seats, possibly more." In the L.A. Times, conservative historian Niall Ferguson compares this election to 1958. That year, a two-term Republican president found himself stuck with an unpopular war and a sluggish economy. The GOP lost 48 seats, setting the stage for a dynamic new Democratic president in 1960, and Democratic domination of the Congress for the next 20 years.

If the election goes as these pollsters predict, November 7th will be "the end of George W. Bush's presidency as he has known it," reported the Washington Post.

Will prospects improve for environmental protection? Probably. But much will still depend on the Republican Party.

Perilous state of Yellowstone’s grizzlies highlights need for solid science in policy-makin

The perilous state of Yellowstone's grizzly-bear population highlights the need for solid science in policy-making, argues Doug Honnold in this guest essay. Honnold, managing attorney of the Earthjustice Northern Rockies office, has been litigating public-interest environmental cases for more than 20 years. Some of his successful cases have led federal courts to reinstate the Clinton roadless rule, overturn the Farm Bureau's efforts to have Yellowstone wolves killed, and reject the government's grizzly bear recovery plan because of its lack of habitat standards.

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Our ability to protect and preserve wild places like Yellowstone -- indeed, our ability to protect our civilization -- turns in large part on our ability to understand the amazingly complex biological and scientific dynamics at play. We can't fight global warming or beat back avian flu or protect our families from air pollution unless we understand the science behind these issues and put it to use.

But as we've seen again and again through the annals of history, powerful political forces use corrupted science to support desired political results.

Witness the Bush administration's proposal to remove the Yellowstone grizzly bear population from the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act. By the basic standards of fundamental ecology, that should be a non-starter because of the relatively small population size and the substantial threats the bear faces.

Linking up nature areas boosts species

In an effort to test the effectiveness of landscape corridors, scientists down in South Carolina have been surveying forest plots either connected by greenways or not. The result, reported in the current issue of Science as well as in today's Science Times, was a 20% increase in species biodiversity in the connected patches.

Not too astounding, except when you consider that the survey has been going for just six years. Said Dr. Ellen Damschen, lead author of the study:

It is surprising that we would see such a dramatic change over a short time scale ... plants can change relatively quickly through their interactions with the landscape and the animals that interact with them.

Biodiversity, it appears, thrives with connectivity. Just another reason for neighborhoods to have sidewalks. That is, unless your neighbors happen to be the human equivalent of praying mantises -- then you best watch your back, uh, head.

Documentary on massive sweatshops in Tijuana airs Tuesday on PBS

Get out your day planners, people. On Tuesday, Oct. 10, (that's next week) at 10 p.m. (but don't trust me, check your local listings) PBS partners with Grist to present Maquilapolis, a documentary about the hidden costs of cheap electronics and the realities of life for Mexican maquiladora workers. (And you thought I was only interested in brain-numbing reality television ...)

The term "Maquilapolis" refers to the "city of factories" in Tijuana, Mexico, where huge warehouses turn out televisions, electrical cables, toys, clothes, batteries, and medical equipment. And the film is focused on the workers in those factories: women like Carmen Durán (pictured at left, photo: David Maung). From the film's website, here's a brief glimpse at what life is like for Carmen and other maquiladora workers:

First cradle-to-cradle house takes shape in Virginia

Nothing about this traditional design says “gray water treatment happens here.” Renderings: Southern Heritage Homes Lined with rundown, century-old houses...