Lester Brown

Harnessing the sun’s energy for water and space heating

Rooftop solar systems provide a simple, low-cost way to heat water and space.Photo: London PermacultureCross-posted from Earth Policy Institute. The pace of solar energy development is accelerating as the installation of rooftop solar water heaters takes off. Unlike solar photovoltaic panels that convert solar radiation into electricity, these “solar thermal collectors” use the sun’s energy […]

U.S. carbon emissions down as renewable energy keeps growing

Cross-posted from Earth Policy Institute. Between 2007 and 2011, carbon emissions from coal use in the United States dropped 10 percent. During the same period, emissions from oil use dropped 11 percent. In contrast, carbon emissions from natural gas use increased by 6 percent. The net effect of these trends was that U.S. carbon emissions […]

Pipeline? We don't need no stinkin' pipeline

Arguments against the tar-sands pipeline focus on the environmental dangers it poses. The more fundamental question is: do we really need that oil?

Dust bowls, water shortages, and toxins drive people from their homes

Droves of climate refugees across the world are on the move in search of greener and cleaner pastures.

A $50 million tipping point?

Michael Bloomberg's contribution to the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign could have many ripple effects and force the U.S. to quit coal for good.

Iowa is a lean, mean, grain-growin' machine

The single state of Iowa produces more grain than all of Canada, and almost as much soy as China.

Rising Temperatures Melting Away Global Food Security

Heat waves clearly can destroy crop harvests. The world saw high heat decimate Russian wheat in 2010. Crop ecologists have found that each 1-degree-Celsius rise in temperature above the optimum can reduce grain harvests by 10 percent. But the indirect effects of higher temperatures on our food supply are no less serious.  Rising temperatures are […]

When the Nile runs dry

A new scramble for Africa is under way. As global food prices rise and exporters reduce shipments of commodities, countries that rely on imported grain are panicking. Affluent countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and India have descended on fertile plains across the African continent, acquiring huge tracts of land to produce wheat, rice […]

I hear my mother calling: A new documentary on women and population [VIDEO]

This is not your father’s population documentary. The new film “Mother: Caring Our Way Out of the Population Dilemma” takes a feminist/humanist view as it explores the issue of our exploding numbers. It’s now showing at a handful of film festivals and events. Here’s the trailer: The film features a number of the usual eco-suspects […]