Climate Technology
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How we can end our addiction to oil
It’s time we moved on to something else, or this is going to kill us. Not only are world oil supplies running out, but what oil is still left is proving very dirty to obtain. We need to kick our oil addiction now if we expect to preserve any hopes of economic prosperity, or unspoiled […]
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Black BP out of the web like BP blacked out the Gulf of Mexico
If you’re feeling outraged but impotent about the effect of the oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico, the internet (or some paint and an ad poster) can offer a little catharsis. Web developer jess3 has created a Firefox plugin which splashes a bit of oil on every mention of BP on the web. Once […]
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The fight over salt: Big Food vs. Us
Salty dog Alton Brown The biggest loser in Michael Moss’s New York Times exposé of the food industry’s fight against salt restrictions isn’t the food industry. It isn’t government, either. In my view, the real loser is television chef Alton Brown: With salt under attack for its ill effects on the nation’s health, the food […]
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Latest podcast: A close look at the “town that food saved”
Ben Hewitt on his farm outside of Hardwick.Hardwick, a hardscrabble town in rural Vermont (pop. 3,200), once based its economy on a non-renewable resource locked up in its surrounding hillsides: granite. But then the granite ran out — taking the town economy down with it. More recently, the town has embarked on a wild experiment. […]
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Wind electricity from flying energy generators cheaper and more reliable than coal?
A technology that might provide clean electricity that is cheaper and more reliable than coal is ready for testing. Some of the world’s leading scientists think it will work. So why aren’t we spending a few million (not billion but million) dollars to find out? The basic idea: wind blows harder and more constantly at […]
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Michigan: Where U.S. clean energy, emissions, efficiency policy really counts
On Friday, May 21, President Obama gathered in the Rose Garden the chiefs of his transportation and environmental departments to take the next big step to leverage federal climate policy and clean energy investment to spur new job growth. The president directed Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson to […]
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Obama preaches green tech gospel to California choir
Silicon Valley in the Internet age has not made for great presidential photo ops. The Valley’s computer-chip factories were off-shored decades ago and (Google excepted) the software giants that supplanted hardware companies just didn’t have the same pizzazz — T-shirted geeks writing code can’t compete with guys and gals in bunny suits tending big futuristic […]
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Officials admit BP disaster worst in U.S. history, best estimate of flow rate a total crock
Cross-posted from Wonk Room. Officials have finally admitted that the Deepwater Horizon blowout is the worst oil disaster in American history, exceeding the Exxon Valdez spill. After a month of insisting that the damaged well was only spewing 210,000 gallons (5000 barrels) of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, officials admitted this morning […]
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Will BP take responsibility for the Gulf spill or squeeze profits from it?
This post is co-authored by Susan Lyon. ExxonMobil will convene its annual shareholders meeting in Dallas this morning as the magnitude of the ongoing BP oil disaster grows. This is a reminder that oil companies need to be held accountable for their actions—both while the oil gushes from the ocean floor and 20 years after […]
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The 7 dumbest things in BP’s spill response plan
We do not live in the Gulf of Mexico, you stupid oil company.Oil companies are supposed to have spill-response plans prepared before they begin drilling in American offshore waters. Minerals Management Service safety regulators are supposed to scrutinize those plans before signing off on them. But it’s looking more and more like no one bothered […]
