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  • Critical List: Christie ditches climate initiative; France opens huge solar farm

    New Jersey governor Chris Christie has jumped ship from a regional greenhouse gas program, because "it's a failure." The owners of the Fukushima nuclear plant provided regulators with only a one-page memo on its tsunami and earthquake preparedness. One page. A decade ago. In Japan, the country that invented the word “tsunami.” Green tech companies […]

    Sarah Laskow Technology

  • Even the Swiss hate nuclear now

    In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, it seems nobody can stay neutral on nuclear power, not even Switzerland. The country has abandoned plans for new nuclear reactors, and while the five existing reactors will be allowed to keep operating, they won't be replaced. Nuclear in Switzerland will be entirely phased out by 2034, and […]

    Jess Zimmerman Technology

  • How to get to a fully renewable power system

    How can we scale up the clean and phase out the dirty?What’s it going to take to substantially ramp up the amount of renewables in the electricity system? There are many nerdy discussions of that question on the interwebs, but lemme try to talk about it in reasonably non-nerdy language. There’s a certain amount of […]

    David Roberts Technology

  • Let’s balance the budget by charging for CO2

    The Center for American Progress has released a plan that could balance the budget by 2030, lower some people’s income taxes, and cut carbon emissions 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. This isn’t just a Holy Grail, it’s an entire Holy Place Setting. The CAP plan proposes to eliminate the deficit mainly through taxes […]

    Jess Zimmerman Technology

  • How green is this car? New fuel economy stickers give a few hints

    The federal government is making it easier for consumers to buy an eco-friendly vehicle. New fuel economy window stickers released today detail annual fuel costs and fuel-costs savings and give greenhouse-gas ratings. The stickers will start appearing on 2013 models. It's a little busy with information, and the environmental community was pushing for a different […]

    Sarah Laskow Technology

  • New vehicle labels take three steps forward, one step back

    This post was written by Therese Langer, transportation program director at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and a contributing author at the ACEEE blog. The new vehicle fuel economy label announced today by the EPA and the Department of Transportation (DOT) beats the current label, providing better information on fuel costs and adding […]

    A.C.E.E.E. Technology

  • The House wants to slow the military’s clean energy march

    Cross-posted from the Center for American Progress. The Department of Defense is the largest energy consumer in the nation. It has made significant efforts to wean the military services from their sole dependence on fossil fuels — particularly jet and diesel fuel made from oil — to power their planes, ships, and vehicles. Pollution from […]

    Daniel J. Weiss Technology

  • Distributed geothermal could supply 7 percent of California’s electricity

    With the right policies in place, geothermal could play an active role in reaching California’s renewable energy goals.Small, geographically dispersed geothermal power plants could provide 7 percent of California’s electricity supply, according to an analysis of data collected by a consultant to the Golden State. California recently passed new legislation requiring the state to provide […]

    Paul Gipe Technology

  • Turn your car into a car-share

    So you’ve successfully reduced your car usage, and now you have this hunk of metal sitting around outside your house, like a garden gnome that needs annual emissions inspections. Why not share it, and maybe make some money? Car-sharing service Getaround has unveiled a kit that will allow people to offer their cars for short-term […]

    Jess Zimmerman Technology

  • Great places: dense, wired, and sustainable

    This is part three in a series on “great places.” Read parts one, two, four, and five. Part of what makes great places great is ecological sustainability. So what’s the best way to reduce our per-capita resource footprint? Typically you hear one of two stories. One is about technology: making gadgets, appliances, vehicles, and factories […]

    David Roberts Technology