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Worldwide Nuclear Energy Expansion Continues
Photo credit: Gregor WolfGlobal production of nuclear energy is expected to grow significantly in future years, despite setbacks in Japan and Germany, as China and the United States eyes next-generation reactors. Worldwide nuclear electricity...
On Geoengineering
I recently had the great pleasure of attending this year's Breakthrough Dialogue at Cavallo Point, an event at which the Breakthrough Institute brought together kindred spirits of disparate views to hash out some of the many issues that that...
How land-efficient is organic agriculture?
It is a truth universally acknowledged - amongst my friends and relations at least - that organic agriculture is better for the planet. Environmentally-conscious consumers typically are prepared to pay a hefty premium for organic meat and vegetables...
Coal Rising in Europe While Gas Eyes the Throne in the US
Despite highly touted climate policies, European utilities are rushing to capitalize on the cheapest and dirtiest source of electric power in the continent: coal. A combination of low carbon permit prices under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)...
The Historic Roots, and Impacts, of Our Nuclear Fear
I remember going to bed one night when I was 11, seriously afraid I would not be alive in the morning. It was October, 1962, and the frightening cold war between the U.S. and Soviet Union, constantly in the news but mostly abstract to me as a kid,...
Time For A Hamiltonian Government?
For a moment, the Great Recession appeared to usher in a new era in which progressive economics would gain widespread support. Both parties accepted direct intervention in the economy as an essential response to the financial and economic crises....
Where the Shale Gas Revolution Came From
The ongoing shale gas boom has expanded domestic energy production, pushed wholesale electricity prices to record lows, and accelerated the closure of America's aging coal plant fleet, lowering national power-sector carbon emissions. This revolution...
The Royal Society Gets It Wrong on 'People and the Planet'
By Mark Lynas, author of The God Species: How the Planet Can Survive the Age of Humans. Originally published at "High Tides" weblogs. The Royal Society - Britain's premier scientific institution - has just released a major report called People and...
How Tripling Government Investment Made Clean Energy Cheaper
Over the last five years, the world's largest nations collectively engaged in a massive policy experiment: what happens when governments triple the historic rate of public investment in clean energy?In the U.S., taxpayers will have spent $150...
Support Grows for Clean Tech Subsidy Reform
Support is building for policies to encourage the growth of a globally competitive, subsidy independent clean tech sector in the United States, as moderate Republicans, industry insiders and analysts expressed keen interest in reforms that would...
Beyond Boom and Bust: Report Overview
Despite robust growth and recent improvements in price and performance, a boom in US clean energy technology ("clean tech") sectors could now falter as federal clean energy spending declines sharply, according to a new report published today by some...
How Emissions Decline in the Real World
One of the first questions anyone seeking to understand global warming should ask is this: how do emissions decline in the real world?The short answer is that they mostly don't. As nations develop, emissions go up. The one major exception is during...
