Bits and Pieces on EB last month: A. “Most analysts continue to maintain that the 19 percent increase in oil prices during the past month is not supported by fundamentals and is largely driven by speculators fleeing the sagging equities markets…. B. . . . . crude is now selling for $40 a barrel or [...]

Climate Change and the Media Last month CBS aired a ‘special’ on global warming. The program featured Dr. James Hanson, Director of the Goddard Space institute and a leading climate scientist. If you’ve been reading this column you will recognize the name – we refer to him frequently. The problem was, CBS published an interview [...]

The disastrous state subsidies for agrofuels piled on top of the federal ones.  Here’s a must-read story on Another pair of studies showing that ethanol–both corn AND switchgrass flavors–is WORSE for climate change than petroleum. In other words, Big Ag has persuaded us to pour gas on the climate fire. Spending millions to prop up [...]

Coal The hard energy news of the moment: The price of coal threatens to reach $300 a ton this week. That’s a sudden tripling in the price of the stuff (see EB 2/4) . For those depending on cheap coal to solve future energy problems, put that in your stack and smoke it. Oil Financier [...]

The Energy Crisis The CEO of General Motors announced at this year’s auto show that he foresees the end of the internal combustion engine, and rather soon at that. He looks for GM to maintain a leading position in the manufacture and distribution of personal vehicles powered by batteries, that to happen as soon as [...]

A sense of balance keeps things lively and interesting, so it’s good to keep a few moderate Republicans around so you can bounce ideas off their heads like ping-pong balls. But the emerging connection between the Democratic Party and the environmental movement, with Al Gore as the Nobel Prize-winning figurehead, will become irresistible to new [...]

Must see: in just a few minutes of Flash video, Annie Leonard breaks down our consumer society into its various parts. She makes it all fun and easy to follow, while at the same time creating a powerful indictment of the modern American lifestyle. Watch it and tell your friends and family: www.StoryofStuff.com

I feel odd wishing people a “Happy New Year,” because it seems like such a trivial wish — like visiting soldiers about to be sent to the front and wishing them a pleasant train ride. We have stirred up some serious stuff with our obstinate refusal to accept and live within ecological limits, but — [...]

Is here. Here’s a piece that helps explain why this is necessary — Papua New Guinea is planning to clearcut 60,000 hectares (150,000 acres) …. of an 80,000 hectare (200,000 acre) island! … to grow palm oil for biodiesel. All over the world, the agrofuels industry is racing ahead of awareness of what it means [...]

Remember the Clean Air Act of 1970? It gave California the authority to set its own clean air standards, contingent on a federal waiver. Since then, California has made several requests for waivers and has never been refused. And now the Environmental Protection Agency has refused to grant a waiver to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, [...]