Climate Technology

Maybe get filthy rich

Now that the U.S. housing market has cooled off, American investors are looking to the Chinese coal industry. Another risky proposition, but for different reasons.

As China's appetite for coal is booming, American investors and businesses are cashing in.

American pension and mutual fund money is being invested in the Chinese coal industry ...

"In general, they're doing a very smart thing," said Mike Tian, an analyst with independent investment research company Morningstar. "That's where the money is."

Van Jones looks to sustainability for pathways out of poverty

Will the burgeoning "green" economy have a place in it for everyone? To a packed auditorium in Seattle last Wednesday, Van Jones said: It can. And to be successful, it has to.

In the chorus of voices against climate change, his message rings true and clear: "We have a chance to connect the people who most need work with the work that most needs to be done."

Van Jones is a civil-rights lawyer and founder and executive director of an innovative nonprofit working to ensure that low-income, working poor, and minority youth have access to the coming wave of "green-collar" jobs. Jones -- brought to Seattle by Climate Solutions, King County, El Centro de la Raza, Puget Sound Sage, and Earth Ministry -- made a compelling case that social justice is the moral anchor required to fuse the climate movement into a powerful and cohesive force. He sees that the solutions to global warming are the solutions to the biggest social and economic problems in urban and rural America.

His point is this: You can pass all the climate legislation you want, but you have to provide the local workforce to make it happen on the ground. "We have to retrofit a nation," he says. "No magical green fairies are going to come down and put up all those solar panels." This is going to take skilled labor. "We can make a green pathway out of poverty."

And it gets better, he says. These jobs can't be outsourced. "You can't put a building on a barge to Asia and weatherize it on the cheap." This is about kitchen table issues: jobs, industry, manufacturing, health, education.

Kansas, Minnesota pledge to green up government computer systems

Think of states that are environmental frontrunners, and Kansas and Minnesota may not leap immediately to mind. But it’s those two that are taking the lead in reducing energy use from government computer systems. Teaming up with the industry-backed Climate Savers Computing Initiative, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) — […]

Food companies damaging climate through deforestation, says new report

The makers of such familiar products as Pringles, KitKat, and Philadelphia cream cheese are contributing to deforestation and climate change, says a new report from Greenpeace. Companies like Unilever, Kraft, and Nestle use palm oil from Indonesia in their products. And guess what happens in Indonesia when the palm-oil peddlers come calling? Virgin forests are […]

Climate change direct action

It’s beginning.

Planktos update

Remember Planktos, the company that was going to sail into the Atlantic ocean and dump a bunch of iron ore, hoping it would stimulate CO2 absorption and profit the company via carbon offsets? Well, Andy Revkin brings news that the company has set sail. Guess the cat’s out of the bag! (Planktos has been criticized […]

Six farmworkers compensated for pesticide exposure, six cases dismissed

Six farmworkers who became sterile after working on a Nicaraguan banana plantation three decades ago were awarded a total $3.3 million from Dole Food Co. and Dow Chemical, after a judge agreed that the corporations “actively suppressed information about” the “reproductive toxicity” of now-banned pesticide DBCP. Six other plaintiffs with a similar claim had their […]

Natural-products maker Burt’s Bees bought by Clorox

Looks like even Burt’s Bees have been affected by the recent spike in bee deaths. The much-loved company — known for its lip balms, soaps, and other personal-care products made from natural ingredients — has been bought out by Clorox. As in the bleach. Blech!

Big-box store Target will phase out PVC

Big-box store Target is right on the mark with plans to phase out nasty plastic polyvinyl chloride. The store that we like to pronounce “Tar-zhay” has announced that it will aim to detox the packaging of its table linen stock by spring and try to find PVC alternatives for all toys by next fall. It […]

Some reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of Hillary’s new proposal

Efficiency and permit auctions and R&D, oh my! Hillary Clinton released her comprehensive energy and climate plan today. It is thoughtful, comprehensive, and though disappointingly conventional in a few areas, inspiringly bold in others. With the release of Clinton’s plan, all three Democratic frontrunners for the presidency now have visionary, far-reaching energy plans that would […]