Climate Technology
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GM: Innovators or crackheads?
Some assembly required.GM.comAt one of our news meetings last week, I mentioned a story I had seen. “GM says the Chevy Volt will get 230 miles per gallon,” I told my fellow editors. The number struck me funny because it was ludicrously far beyond any current mpg rating, and because GM acknowledged that the Volt, […]
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ConocoPhillips works to undermine climate bill, despite pledge to support climate action
ConocoPhillips is now actively campaigning against the House climate and energy bill — even though it’s a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an influential enviro-business coalition that played a key role in shaping the legislation. The company changed its tune shortly after the House passed the bill. On the ConocoPhillips website, visitors are […]
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Our addiction to cheap stuff has become very expensive, new book argues
American retail is riddled with cheap, fall-apart merchandise. We know this. Sales are a ploy to get a shopper to spend, as opposed to a boon for penny pinchers. Right. And how much mileage do we get from that old, overused adage, “You get what you pay for”? More than we’d like to admit. So […]
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Sustainability conferences can be boring and terrible
If you’re reading this post, you know that sustainability conferences are now so ubiquitious that you can’t swing a cat without hitting one. This is so cool–because it means the word is getting out big time. But as is my nature, I find myself massively dissatisfied by most (though not all) events, which typically bore […]
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National Association of Manufacturers claims climate bill would crush economy
In shocking news, water is still wet, the sky is still blue, and the National Association of Manufacturers is still predicting economic catastrophe if the United States acts against climate change. NAM, in partnership with the American Council for Capital Formation, released a new study on Wednesday of the climate and energy bill that the […]
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Pacific NW landowners team up to market forest offsets
Owners of forestland in the Pacific NW could benefit more under a national carbon offsets system, as trees common to the region store more carbon per acre than East Coast species. Pictured: Douglas firs in an Oregon forest.Courtesy Ecotrust’s sbeebe via FlickrThough most people probably think of national parks when they think of forests, more […]
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Dynegy out of the new coal business
This is the weekly post from Bruce Nilles, director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. Three years ago Dynegy launched plans to partner with LS Power and become the largest new developer of coal-fired power plants. Yesterday Dynegy officially terminated those plans, including selling its shares in a coal-fired power plant currently under construction Coal […]
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Like Cash for Clunkers? You’ll love feebates!
Photo: ThreatedThoughtsIt’s now fairly widely understood that Cash for Clunkers has worked great as a stimulus program but is negligible as an emissions-reduction program. That’s fine — it did what it was supposed to do. Now that we know how well people respond to cash incentives, though, it’s time to do some deeper thinking about […]
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Surprisingly popular Cash for Clunkers program raises hopes–and questions
This post was written by ProPublica’s Marcus Stern and Jake Bernstein. To supporters, the “cash for clunkers” program miraculously jolted the moribund car market back to life, engendering hopes that it might help revive the broader U.S. economy. Skeptics saw it differently: The automotive industry had hijacked an environmental bill and turned it into a […]
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Cash for … other things!
So Congress approved and President Obama signed an extension of the hugely popular (and not-really-so-green) cash-for-clunkers program. Woohoo! We can think of some better “Cash for …” programs the government should be funding … Cash for computers—Think of the power savings. Not to mention the peace of a Twitter-free life. Cash for cookies—Your sweet tooth […]
