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Climate & Energy
The Dark Lord of Coal Country could (finally) spend time behind bars
Don Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy, has been indicted on charges that could land him in jail for 30 years.
Climate & Energy
Big Energy has tried to turn people of color against solar power since forever
Happily, more and more people are seeing through the hype.
Going for a hat trick?
Now that China and the U.S. have a climate deal, will India step up next?
India is the world's No. 3 carbon emitter, and now it's in the hot seat.
Climate & Energy
What climate hawks can learn from the midterms: Messaging and money matter
The mainstream media spun the election as a debilitating blow for climate advocates. That's the wrong takeaway.
The Big O
Overstock.com moves beyond flat-screen TVs to CSA boxes
The online retailer hopes to disrupt corporate ag by selling fare from small farms online.
Climate & Energy
No, the new climate deal does not let China off the hook
Republicans say the agreement doesn't require China to do anything. Here's why they're wrong.
Here be ocean acidification
This map shows where we’ve screwed the oceans most
Now we know exactly which places are suffering most from ocean acidification.
Preach It
Anti-consumption Pope would rather you knit him something for Christmas
Pope Francis warns world leaders to include the vital issues of over-consumption and climate change at the upcoming G20 summit.
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Food
Palm-oil giant makes big commitment. Rainforests rejoice
Seventy-five percent of all palm oil will
be produced responsibly -- if all the big companies live up to the
promises they've now made.
Climate & Energy
Obama’s deal with China is a big win for solar, nuclear, and clean coal
We could soon see an armistice in the solar trade war.
We're from the GOP and we're here to help ... fry the planet
Meet the Senate leaders who plan to gut the EPA and approve Keystone
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the new Republican committee chairs are all hostile to climate action.
Food
Relax — California isn’t about to dump pesticides on organic farms
A new state report outlines some edge-case
scenarios, but mostly, California's pest control strategies do a good
job of protecting the interests of green farmers.
Living
Can a vegan ever truly love a carnivore?
A reader wonders whether two hearts can meat. Umbra says vegan start by accepting each other for who we are.
All the humidity that's fit to drink
This new bike bottle fills itself with water
An Austrian designer just crafted a new water bottle that could change the way we look at both biking and water scarcity.
Climate & Energy
4 reasons Republicans are losing their sh*t over the U.S.-China climate deal
The GOP is really not happy about this new agreement. Here's why.
Climate & Energy
5 more things to celebrate besides the big new climate deal
We’ve cherry-picked a few other good news items to keep your serotonin levels elevated.
Caught Wet-handed
California drought leads to a black market for water
California's worst-in-history drought is creating a whole new revenue stream for water poachers.
Climate & Energy
We’ve never seen so many climate hawks happy at one time
Climate hawks are exhibiting rare displays
of optimism on Twitter, thanks to the new U.S-China agreement. See them
while they last!
the ride stuff
Bikes created 655,000 jobs in Europe
That's more than the entire European mining and quarrying industry -- not bad for a hippie hobby, right?
Climate & Energy
No, Obama’s carbon limits won’t mean massive power outages
Our electric grid's overseer warns that the
EPA’s Clean Power Plan threatens the reliability of our power systems,
but climate change itself is a bigger danger to dependability.
Where There's Smoke ...
Getting stoned in Boulder will now come with a carbon tax
Boulder, in the weed kingdom of Colorado, plans to start charging pot producers extra to offset their carbon costs.
Cities
This Southside Chicago neighborhood is about to become a national park
The neighborhood is a far cry from Yellowstone or Yosemite, but it is significant for other reasons.
Business & Technology
The “sharing” economy cozies up to subprime auto loans
Bad car loans are nothing new, but they don't move us in any direction we should be wanting to go.
Secrets secrets are no fun
With eyes in the sky, researchers try to link fracking and illness
Scientists and ordinary citizens use
satellite and aerial photography to look for clues connecting
Pennsylvania fracking sites and mysterious maladies.
Holy disappearing smoke!
New U.S.-China climate deal is a game changer
President Obama and Chinese President Xi
Jinping have announced that they are pursuing ambitious new greenhouse
gas emission reductions.
Food
Disruptive mayo is now a thing, and it’s spreading
A corporate giant sues a feisty startup over the right to call an egg-free product "mayo."
climate change the subject
At this hyper-green eatery, climate change will be the main course
Three Bay Area entrepreneurs have set out to create a restaurant where learning about the climate is positively delicious.
biomockery
Ditch Chad — this green building is your new wingman
Well, this is an odd promo video for a super-green building.
Throwing bad money after bad
Rich countries are still wasting billions on subsidies for fossil fuels
The G20 nations pledged to phase out fossil
fuel subsidies. Instead they're now spending $88 billion a year just on
exploration, not to mention all the other subsidies.
Cities
Pollution could land your kid at the back of the class — and in prison
Recent studies show that air pollution
decreases test scores and contributes to ADHD, both of which can cause
big trouble later in life.
Politics
How the GOP-run Senate could ruin global climate action here and abroad
Undermining the EPA also means undermining climate treaty negotiations in Paris next year.
Politics
David Roberts explains postmodern conservatism in 36 tweets
A case headed to the Supreme Court is a
crucial turning point in the American conservative movement's ability to
assert that black is white and up is down.
Climate & Energy
Will China help Obama save the planet?
The U.S.-China talks could be a crucial step in the fight against global warming.
sip in the right direction
California’s new coffee farm isn’t your average joe
Jay Ruskey is the first farmer in the
continental U.S. to grow coffee commercially. Here's what that means for
the future of coffee.
Living
Mamas, please let your daughters grow up to be scientists
An embarrassingly small proportion of real-life scientists are women. This photographer wants to change that.
Climate & Energy
Texas official ignores voters’ ban on fracking
Days after Denton passed its fracking ban,
Texas Railroad Commission Chair Christi Craddick said she'd keep giving
oil companies permits to drill.
The Dead Sea
Dead zones are coming for your rivers, lakes, and oceans
A new study found that climate change is increasing the chance of dead zones worldwide. Oh great.
Climate & Energy
Could this rock save the planet?
Olivine may be kryptonite for climate change, but it fights CO2 as only a mineral can -- incredibly slowly.
Politics
Eugene from the Walking Dead is apparently running for Congress
The dude leading the fight against the zombie apocalypse just took a page from the GOP's climate change playbook.
Cities
What’s more likely to kill you: A car crash or vehicle emissions?
The answer actually surprised us.
This is the dividend
A proposal to save the middle class … by cutting carbon pollution
Peter Barnes' plan is politically impossible, but isn't everything now? So what the hell, let's check it out.
Going up!
This video explains how to make you richer and protect the climate
Author and thinker Peter Barnes gives an elevator pitch for his proposal -- in an actual elevator.
Food
For farmers, using pesticides is a lot like picking the wrong smartphone
"Path dependency" is when a choice of
technologies hems in your future. Is that happening today as developing
countries build out their farming systems?
Living
Are compostable diapers the most eco-friendly?
A reader wonders how best to swaddle the little poo machine. Umbra says it's a wrap.
Fry 'em in a pan, Stan
There must be 50 ways to prep potatoes
Too often overlooked in a world of more beautiful vegetables, potatoes deserve to be shown off, starting with this Rösti.
Climate & Energy
Here’s what it looks like when a typhoon devastates your city
A year ago, Typhoon Haiyan slammed the Philippines. Here's what that looked like.
Politics
Stephen Colbert to the children of America: Dream of being a politician with zero grasp of science!
America's coastline, meet your reaper: James Inhofe, Oklahoma senator.
Politics
Was the shocking outcome of Maryland’s gubernatorial race about rain, or something else?
Pundits have blamed the "rain tax" for Anthony Brown's loss to an unknown Republican. But did race play a role?
Gaelic Gale Power
Scotland may achieve energy independence before political independence
Scotland's wind turbines are producin' loads o' lecky.
Balls In Your Court
I watched a bunch of scrotums get snipped and it was totally fine
Before advocating for men to take some reproductive responsibility, we set out to confirm that their options don't suck.
Politics
No, Americans did not just vote to “drill, baby, drill!”
Big Oil and its Republican lackeys claim
that the recent elections give them a mandate to drill. It couldn't be
farther from the truth.
Can of Wormholes
“Interstellar” solves climate change by incoherently jetting into space
The new Christopher Nolan film starts on a human-ravaged Earth and ends in a black hole. Where does that leave us?
Politics
Surprise! This GOP senator’s theory about volcanoes and climate change is totally wrong
This should not actually come as a surprise.
Living
Move over Beyonce, there’s a new Queen Bee
America's honey royalty don bee beards and travel the U.S. to spread awareness about the little pollinators and colony collapse.
Here Comes the Sun
America’s solar boom, in charts
It's been a bit player, but solar power is about to shine.
Divest-Invest
Here’s how one green group got its investments out of dirty energy
Oregon Environmental Council aligned its portfolio with its values -- and still makes money.
PEDAL POWER
If you build bike paths, cyclists will come
New study shows Minneapolis bicycle freeway system equals more bike commuters, less obesity.
Business & Technology
The Netherlands’ new solar bike lane totally rules
The solar bike lane is the greenest thing in Amsterdam since space cake.
House Warming
Here are the worst places to live in the U.S., and climate change isn’t helping
The Weather Channel found 50 places you SHOULD NOT move, based on natural disasters and climate change. Here's a sampling.
Politics
Meet your new fossil fuel-loving GOP senators
Some are blatant climate deniers. Others hedge on the issue. But they all agree that we should do nothing to stop it.
Climate & Energy
How climate change is like street harassment
It is difficult to convince people that
their actions have, knowingly or unknowingly, contributed to substantial
aggregate harms. It's true of catcalling women on the street and it's
true of climate change.
Food
GMO labeling laws keep failing. Here’s why we can expect more
GMO-labeling initiatives have lost four
times now, but proponents are tenacious. Until we actually try out the
idea, we'll be stuck on infinite replay.
WHOLE HOG
Giant hog farms are making people sick. Here’s why it’s a civil rights issue.
Communities of color in North Carolina have
to endure bronchitis, asthma, and even high blood pressure caused by
massive pools of pig poo. Ick.
Food
The Amish: Makers of jam, fine cabinetry, and polluted rivers
Their small, pastoral farms belie an outsized impact on streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. Now the feds are cracking down.
Food
Hey! Did somebody frack my favorite beer?
A reader worries about fracking water tainting beer. Umbra hops to it.
Politics
Chevron spent $72 per voter to defeat these green candidates — and failed
A refinery town's activist and green governing coalition prevails in the face of an oil company's millions.
Politics
Green groups spent millions on the midterms. What did it get them?
That money — it looks like there was at
least $85 million — bought a lot of ads. But on Election Day, it's not
clear that it paid off.
Climate & Energy
Get ready for another extremely cold winter starting NOW
We'd joke that winter is coming, but our tongues are stuck to a light pole.
the bright side
The country is going to hell, but at least your bus may come on time
The results of the election got you down? Good news! It wasn't a total train wreck.
Politics
Holy sh*t, a town in Texas just banned fracking
Eight fracking bans went to voters during these elections. Half of them won, including one in the Lone Star State.
Politics
Watch Stephen Colbert make fun of major networks’ election coverage
Stephen Colbert leaves numbers to the nerds and summons a demon to cover election results.
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