Russia
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Critical List: Biden stumps for clean energy; the magical green properties of concrete
"The biggest mistake this nation has made in its entire history" would be not to invest in clean energy, VP Joe Biden said yesterday at the National Clean Energy Summit 4.0
The Russian government just cut a deal with Exxon to look for oil in that country’s sector of the Arctic. The next day, Russia raided BP’s Moscow offices.
George Monbiot argues that fracking without regulation is insane.
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Russia to build $100 billion rail tunnel connecting Alaska and Siberia
Ever since Tsar Nicholas II, Russians have dreamed of connecting Siberia to North America via a rail tunnel. Now, apparently, the Kremlin has green-lighted the connection, which would be the world's longest, and twice as long as the England-to-France "Chunnel."
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Russia lets VIPs ignore traffic laws
Do you hate sh*tty drivers? Well, in Soviet Russia, sh*tty driver hates YOU! Moscow's road rage problem is epic, perhaps due to the fact that their traffic solution involves giving special police-style sirens to "VIP" drivers (read: 900-plus important people, government officials and so forth, and the 900-plus folks who can get a hold of them in some other way). However poorly the U.S. is doing at managing traffic, Russian solutions make our roads look like a buggy path in Amish country.
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Critical List: Senate could cut energy subsidies; organic lipsticks fail to meet criteria
Energy tax breaks are on trial in the Senate, amidst a weird vogue for Republicans opposing them. What are they planning?
People outside of Washington do believe in climate change, whatever their political beliefs. They also overwhelmingly support bike lanes and expanded public transportation. Even people who vote Republican like this stuff. Congresspeople, take note.
Cheap natural gas is making it hard for money-minded people to invest in renewable energy. -
Putin test-drives, makes fun of radical new hybrid
Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's richest man and owner of the New Jersey Nets, has bankrolled an all-Russian natural gas-electric hybrid car called the ë-mobile (pronounced yo-mobile), but that wasn’t enough to impress Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his tiger blood. Putin: "This yo-mobile of yours, I hope it won't fall into pieces, will it?" Before a […]
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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 […]
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The ‘greenest Olympics’ actually an environmental catastrophe
If the Sochi Olympics are green, then this logo is compelling to look at.Like a downhill skier that crashes right out of the gate, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to earn a gold medal for “the greenest Olympics.” World Wildlife Fund Russia and Greenpeace […]
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The world is only one poor harvest away from chaos
Over the last few decades we've created a food production bubble based on overpumping aquifers, overplowing land, and overloading the atmosphere with carbon dioxide. The question is not whether it will burst, but when.