Climate & Energy

putting in sky lights

Know your solar 4
Posted 11 Mar 2010 1:44 PM By Lester Brown Concerns about global warming and oil insecurity have prompted calls for a new energy economy, one that replaces fossil fuels with renewables. The sun is an enormous reservoir of energy; in fact, the sunlight reaching Earth in just one hour is enough to power the global economy for a whole year. Here are data highlights on solar photovoltaics, concentrated solar thermal power, and solar water and space heating.
Green hard hat or green lab beaker?

Retooling green jobs for the next generation 3
Posted 10 Mar 2010 12:33 PM By Jesse Jenkins When you think "green jobs," do you conjure images of green hard hats, caulk guns, and tool belts? Well it might be time to start thinking about "green" lab beakers, "green" drafting tables and "green" brief cases as well, because the careers needed to secure competitive clean energy industries will also run the gamut from cutting-edge researchers and high-tech engineers to innovative designers and fearless entrepreneurs.
hugo and what army?

How many Venezuelan soldiers does it take to change a lightbulb? 3
Posted 11 Mar 2010 11:24 AM By Ashley Braun When the president of Venezuela wants to save energy, he doesn't mess around. It's time to send in the troops!
in the guise of the law

Senators negotiate green economy bill with polluters who deny threat of global warming 1
Posted 11 Mar 2010 11:17 AM By Brad Johnson As the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman triumvirate works to craft green economy legislation, they’re negotiating with industry lobbyists who deny the threat of global warming. After meeting with President Barack Obama and a dozen industry-friendly lawmakers, the trio of Senate negotiators sat down with representatives of the fossil-based economy.
What would we be without wishful thinking?

How the cap-and-trade controversy could lead to good clean energy policy 20
Posted 11 Mar 2010 11:16 AM By David Roberts Cap-and-trade has become politically toxic, but the pressure to act on climate and energy remains. Oddly, this may lead to the passage of some great complementary policies. Or I could be deluding myself.
faux-toshop

Big Oil uses fake ‘Americans’ to attack fake ‘energy taxes’ 4
Posted 10 Mar 2010 12:12 PM By Brad Johnson Big Oil is using fake “Americans” to defend billions in tax subsidies. The American Petroleum Institute is running full-page ads in Politico and Roll Call that attack Congress for “new energy taxes.” Check out the Photoshopped images.
The apple-pie-calypse is near

A recipe for delish disaster: global warming hot apple pie 0
Posted 10 Mar 2010 12:02 PM By Ashley Braun Just because the planet is turning up the heat, doesn't mean we should get out of the kitchen. The end of the world never looked so tasty.
money in the tank

The do-nothing energy tax: $3 gasoline dead ahead 2
Posted 10 Mar 2010 11:21 AM By Daniel J. Weiss The mounds of snow blackened by auto exhaust have barely melted in Washington, D.C, yet the Energy Information Administration’s Short Term Energy Outlook already predicts that average gas prices “will exceed $3 per gallon” in coming months.
Death of a Thousand Cuts

A messy but practical strategy for phasing out the U.S. coal fleet 23
Posted 10 Mar 2010 9:35 AM By Ted Nace How do you get rid of a bunch of old coal plants? Here are nine "knife cuts" that together could help kill coal power for good.
nocturnal emissions

Why pricing emissions is the least important policy 13
Posted 9 Mar 2010 3:54 PM By Gar Lipow Here's some historical perspective on why the public is right, and mainstream environmental groups are wrong. Historically U.S. infrastructure, the basis on which this nation developed, was never some magical response to supply and demand.