fossil fuels

100% Renewables—for a Healthier California

Switching to clean, safe, renewable energy is one of the most important things we can do for the climate, for the health of our communities now, and for the health of future generations.

What Can the Abolitionists Teach Us About Climate Change?

Understanding the centuries-long abolitionist movement offers insight into the vision, the structural changes, the personal commitments, the political struggles, and the global movement required to stave off catastrophic climate change.

The Myth That Coal Is Cheap

Its health and other societal costs are staggering. Phasing out coal-fired power plants would be good for the country.

4 Ways to Address Climate Change Now

There are steps Washington could take, without waiting for a "grand bargain," that could make a big difference for our states and communities. Even in this famously gridlocked Congress, there are signs of progress on climate change. There's a new, aisle-crossing "Climate Solutions Caucus," and there are rumors of Republican-sponsored climate bills to be introduced next year.

Tiptoeing Through the Renewable Energy Minefield

As just about everyone knows, there are gaping chasms separating the worldviews of fossil fuel promoters, nuclear power advocates, and renewable energy supporters. But crucially, even among those who disdain fossils and nukes, there is a seemingly unbridgeable gulf between those who say that solar and wind power have unstoppable momentum and will eventually bring with them lower energy prices and millions of jobs, and those who say these intermittent energy sources are inherently incapable of sustaining modern industrial societies and can make headway only with massive government subsidies.

Corrupt and Ineffective Development Investment

After some seven decades of mixed results in development assistance, there is a growing consensus that the greatest challenge is governance—in both the recipient and the donor countries.

Hold the Keystone bubbly: Our fossil fuel addiction remains

Did you hear that Keystone XL—the long-planned pipeline from the Canadian tar sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast—got canceled? That President Obama nixed it because it would contribute to climate change? Did you, as a reader of sites like this, exhale?

KEYSTONE XL VICTORY: TO WIN A FIGHT, YOU HAVE TO PICK ONE

President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline marks one of the biggest victories for the U.S. environmental movement in years. Speaking this morning from the White House, Obama–flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry–made one of his most forceful statements to date about the importance of moving the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels.
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Gasoline fumes and aggressive rats.

Over at Fast Company, Terry Tamminen notes the effects that tailpipes might have on human behavior in advance of COP15: New research from Cairo shows that rats become more belligerent when exposed to gasoline fumes and tailpipe pollution. If the same thing happens to humans, that might explain why the guy in the Escalade was waving his Smith & Wesson on the freeway in L.A. the other night, but it may also highlight the co-benefits of a low-carbon economy.

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