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A year ago, as President Obama prepared for his inauguration, environmentalists were optimistic. For eight years previous, the most hostile administration to environmental concerns in the nation’s history had flouted science and flogged nature. There was nowhere to go but up. My brilliant (and more succinct) predecessor, Peter Dykstra, pegged a column to the inauguration. He asked five......read more
To the surprise of many (or us, at least), clean energy was a primary focus of President Obama's State of the Union Address on Tuesday. The President spent the first third of the speech on the issue, and laid out an ambitious goal by saying that 80 percent of electricity should come from clean energy sources by 2035. "[T]he nation that leads the clean energy economy will lead the global......read more
As President Obama prepares to deliver Tuesday's State of the Union address, observers are keenly waiting to hear what he will proclaim on the topic of climate policy. With Congress still bitterly divided, the odds of passing a substantive bill to reduce emissions are impossibly long, so we know that Obama and his advisors will have to draw on executive power to take action. We have also......read more
Kevin Knoblach for Huffington Post: When President Obama called for Congress to "pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change" in his State of the Union Address, adding that he'll use his executive authority to act if Congress won't, legislative handicappers would be excused if they scratched their heads. After all, didn't opponents of climate action decisively block legislative......read more
These great state-shaped cutting boards come complete with custom star or heart engraved over your hometown. Made in Brooklyn by husband-and-wife creative duo AHeirloom, the extensive collection is CNC-milled and made from rapidly renewable Plyboo (an FSC-certified brand of bamboo plywood). There are plenty of states to choose from, check out their Etsy shop to see if your home state is......read more
Around the United States, Republican-controlled states are mounting an all-out assault on environmental regulations. In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott wants to cut two-thirds of the state funding allocated to Everglades restoration. David Guest, a lawyer with the Florida office of Earthjustice, said Scott has delivered "the most radical anti-environmental budget" of the past two......read more
In the 1970s, the EPA asked a group of freelance photographers to document the state of America's environment. Called the Documerica project, the photos are a valuable record of the environmental issues that plagued the US in the years before protective legislation like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. You can see them for yourself on the Documerica Flickr page. Now, almost 40 years......read more
As he discussed in the State of the Union address, President Obama intends to cut subsidies of oil and gas companies already making money hand over fist. In the new budget, set for release sometime this month, Obama calls for a $36.5 billion dollar reduction in subsidies and tax breaks for oil and gas companies, alongside substantial increases in funding for solar, wind, and geothermal energy......read more
President Obama covered plenty of policy ground during Tuesday's State of the Union address, but observers looking for clear leadership on the environment were left with a hazy, conflicted picture of where the administration stands. Of the 7,000 words contained in Obama's prepared speech, climate and energy accounted for less then 500. His coverage of climate change and emphatic calls for energy......read more
Following the release of her excellent Ekstasis LP, esoteric songstress Julia Holter linked up with Jib Kidder (aka Sean Schuster-Craig) to produce this wobbly, country-sampling tune that we've had on repeat all day. "My Baby" takes snippets from Kidder’s "Ringtone Cowboy," off his forthcoming Steal Guitars album, adding Holter’s dreamy vocal to the country & western......read more
