Three Charts That Illustrate Why Solar Has Hit A True Tipping Point

Three Charts That Illustrate Why Solar Has Hit A True Tipping Point: A new report from the prominent global consulting firm McKinsey shows why solar photovoltaics have hit a tipping point. As the economics of solar PV continue to improve steadily and dramatically, McKinsey analysts conclude that the yearly “economic potential” of solar PV deployment could reach 600-1,000 gigawatts (1 million megawatts) by 2020. In the year [...]/p

Poll: 75 Percent of Americans Support Regulating CO2 As A Pollutant, 60 Percent Support Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax

Poll: 75 Percent of Americans Support Regulating CO2 As A Pollutant, 60 Percent Support Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax: A new national survey confirms strong public support for funding renewable energy research, regulating carbon pollution, and signing a global treaty to slash emissions. The study, conducted by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, found a remarkable 75% of Americans support “regulating carbon dioxide (the [...]/p

ALEC and ExxonMobil Push Loopholes in Fracking Chemical Disclosure Rules | Common Dreams

ALEC and ExxonMobil Push Loopholes in Fracking Chemical Disclosure Rules | Common Dreams
"the group recently adopted "model legislation" on fracking chemical disclosure, based on a bill passed in Texas last year. According to The Times, the model bill was "sponsored within ALEC" by ExxonMobil, which runs a major oil and gas operation through its subsidiary, XTO Energy."

Dow Chemical Reaps Rewards by Funding PBS' 'America Revealed' | Common Dreams

Dow Chemical Reaps Rewards by Funding PBS' 'America Revealed' | Common Dreams

Is 'America Revealed'--or PBS? Dow-sponsored public TV series tracks Dow's product lines

Arctic Methane in Vicious Cycle of Global Warming: Study | Common Dreams

Arctic Methane in Vicious Cycle of Global Warming: Study | Common Dreams

More methane emissions lead to more warming, and more warming leads to more methane emissions

Three Stories Not Told: Earth Day Edition

Three Stories Not Told: Earth Day Edition
"the mainstream press has overlooked some of the most important environmental challenges we face. In honor of Earth Day, Media Matters has compiled three major environmental stories the media missed this year:"

Chorus of Anger says Little Learned from BP's Gulf Disaster | Common Dreams

Chorus of Anger says Little Learned from BP's Gulf Disaster | Common Dreams

Two years after Deepwater Horizon a culture of complacency has returned to offshore drilling

Will The Media Let Congress Forget About The Gulf Oil Disaster?

Will The Media Let Congress Forget About The Gulf Oil Disaster?
"Following a lengthy investigation, the national Oil Spill Commissionconcluded in January 2011 that "the root causes" of the BP disaster were "systematic and, absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, might well recur." 

Eyeless Shrimp and Fish With Tumors: The Horrific Consequences of BP's Spill | Environment | AlterNet

Eyeless Shrimp and Fish With Tumors: The Horrific Consequences of BP's Spill | Environment | AlterNet
"Despite mounting environmental and health consequences, not to mention the death of 11 workers, no executives have received jail time."

Obama Echoes Bush, Sets Plan for Polar Bear Extinction | Common Dreams

Obama Echoes Bush, Sets Plan for Polar Bear Extinction | Common Dreams
"The Obama Administration issued a proposed rule yesterday that disregards the effects of greenhouse gases on polar bear habitat leading one conservation group to say that the rule echoes former President George W. Bush's plan, and that it will lead to the extinction of polar bears."

Legacy Of BP Oil Spill: Eyeless Shrimp And Fish With Lesions

Legacy Of BP Oil Spill: Eyeless Shrimp And Fish With Lesions: The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded nearly two years ago to the day, beginning an oil spill that lasted three months and released some two hundred million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. BP may have declared their mission accomplished, but the results of the spill are still trickling out. The latest? Shrimp with [...]/p

April 16 News: Heat Wave Prompts ‘Dire Warnings’ From Boston Marathon Officials; Glaciers Still Shrinking Rapidly

April 16 News: Heat Wave Prompts ‘Dire Warnings’ From Boston Marathon Officials; Glaciers Still Shrinking Rapidly: Our round-up of the latest in climate and clean energy. Please post more links below. A forecast for intense heat during Monday’s Boston Marathon prompted race officials to issue dire warnings over the weekend, along with the offer of a deferment for runners willing to wait until next year. [Wall Street Journal] To figure out [...]/p

What You Should Know About Exxon-Mobil’s Hypocritical Science Education Ad Campaign

What You Should Know About Exxon-Mobil’s Hypocritical Science Education Ad Campaign: by Dominique Browning, via Time Ideas If you were watching the Masters golf tournament last weekend, you would have noticed it was laced with ads from Exxon Mobil calling for … better science. That’s right. The very company that funded decades of science denial takes it back. Sort of. ExxonMobil ranks high in a short list of [...]/p

Chart Of The Day: Wind Power Helps Drive Strong Increase In U.S. Renewable Electricity Generation

Chart Of The Day: Wind Power Helps Drive Strong Increase In U.S. Renewable Electricity Generation: As policy makers in Washington ignore the urgent need to extend federal tax credits for wind, there’s some new data for them to consider. Over the last decade, the number of states generating more than 10% of electricity from non-hydro renewable energy has increased from two to nine. The main driver? Wind. According to the [...]/p

STUDY: Climate Coverage Plummets On Broadcast Networks

STUDY: Climate Coverage Plummets On Broadcast Networks
"news coverage of climate change on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX has dropped significantly since 2009. In 2011, these networks spent more than twice as much time discussing Donald Trump as climate change."

Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"On the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, The Japan Timesyesterday ran an editorial titled “The Titanic and the Nuclear Fiasco” which stated: “Presenting technology as completely safe, trustworthy or miraculous may seem to be a thing of the past, but the parallels between the Titanic and Japan’s nuclear power industry could not be clearer.”

As Ice Cap Melts, Militaries Vie for Arctic Edge | Common Dreams

As Ice Cap Melts, Militaries Vie for Arctic Edge | Common Dreams
"While the corporate media continues to keep alive a false narrative that the world's scientists are still divided over global climate change - new reports show the military has moved beyond that debate. The Associated Press reports today that "to the world's military leaders, the debate over climate change is long over."

Texas Toxic Dump Site May Benefit from Owner's Political Largesse | Common Dreams

Texas Toxic Dump Site May Benefit from Owner's Political Largesse | Common Dreams
"Simmons isn’t partial to any single candidate or political cause. He’s given generously to the super PACs backing all the top Republican presidential contenders. And he’s the No. 1 donor to Karl Rove’s super PAC, American Crossroads, which is supporting Republicans across the board. Simmons says it’s his loathing for Barack Obama that’s driving him to spread his money around. “Any of these Republicans would make a better president than that socialist, Obama,” he told the Wall Street Journal recently. “Obama is the most dangerous American alive.”

Top Three Ways That American Taxpayers Subsidize Dirty Coal Development

Top Three Ways That American Taxpayers Subsidize Dirty Coal Development: by Jessica Goad and Stephen Lacey Environmentalists and public health advocates often talk about the harmful “external” costs of coal that are not accounted for in its price. Those externalities include damage to the local environment, threats to public health, and, of course, climate change. In a study last year, Dr. Paul Epstein of the [...]/p

Study: Historic RIse to Sea Levels in Pacific Ocean Linked to Climate Change | Common Dreams

Study: Historic RIse to Sea Levels in Pacific Ocean Linked to Climate Change | Common Dreams
Drastic changes are 'important climate change signals,' researchers conclude

Myths And Facts About Oil And Gasoline

Myths And Facts About Oil And Gasoline
"Both mainstream and conservative media outlets have responded to the recent spike in gasoline prices by circulating talking points rooted in politics rather than facts. As a whole, these claims reflect the misconception, perpetuated by the news media, that changes in U.S. energy policy are a major driver of oil and gasoline prices."

Pro-Oil Outside Groups Spend More Than $16 Million On Energy Attack Ads Since January

Pro-Oil Outside Groups Spend More Than $16 Million On Energy Attack Ads Since January: A handful of outside groups, fueled by oil and coal dollars, are committing tens of millions to propel Big Oil to the forefront of the 2012 elections — outspending the Obama campaign on political energy ads by an overwhelming amount. In the first three-and-a-half months of 2012, groups including Americans for Prosperity, American Petroleum Institute, Crossroads [...]/p

Study: Autism Linked to Industrial Food, Environment | Common Dreams

Study: Autism Linked to Industrial Food, Environment | Common Dreams
Report cites prevalence of high-fructose corn syrup in US diet as possible contributor to alarming epidemic

Bill McKibben: It’s Time for Interfaith Moral Action on Climate Change | AlterNet

Bill McKibben: It’s Time for Interfaith Moral Action on Climate Change | AlterNet
"There are lots of types of people who have been taking action on climate change over the last several years: environmentalists (of course), students and young people, community-based groups, labor activists, indigenous peoples, Appalachian and Gulf Coast residents, ranchers and more."

New Reports say Earthquakes man-made by Fracking

Group Mobilizing Big Anti-Fracking 'Earthquake' | Common Dreams

Group Mobilizing Big Anti-Fracking 'Earthquake' | Common Dreams

"If we stay silent, special interests will win; if we speak out together we have a chance."

- Common Dreams staff

How investing in wind energy can save American jobs

An Ill Wind: The Coal Industry's Dirty Secret

Fukushima Radiation Found in California Kelp | Common Dreams

Fukushima Radiation Found in California Kelp | Common Dreams
"Radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan have been detected in the great kelp forests off the California coast, according to a new study released by researchers at Cal State Long Beach."

Record Warm March Temperatures Continue Record-Breaking Periods | Common Dreams

Record Warm March Temperatures Continue Record-Breaking Periods | Common Dreams

More than 15,000 warm temperature records broken during March

Unregulated Fracking for Decades? Why California May Be a Disaster Waiting to Happen | Fracking | AlterNet

Unregulated Fracking for Decades? Why California May Be a Disaster Waiting to Happen | Fracking | AlterNet
"It appears fracking has gone virtually unregulated in California for decades and now lawmakers are pushing back with legislation to expose the truth."

Local Media Fail To Cover Climate Denial, ALEC Link

Local Media Fail To Cover Climate Denial, ALEC Link
"ALEC "Exists To Bring Business-Friendly State Lawmakers Together With Lobbyists For Corporations." 

Debating the Future of Our World's Water | Water | AlterNet

Debating the Future of Our World's Water | Water | AlterNet
"Achieving water democracy is surely a terrific opportunity to fix governance problems from the local to the global, but it's one enormous task"

Reporting From The Front Lines Of The Climate Fight

Reporting From The Front Lines Of The Climate Fight: Today is my last day at ThinkProgress, after four exciting years of reporting on the front lines of climate and energy politics. The experience has taken me from Biloxi to Copenhagen, from New Hampshire to Cancun. I’ve gotten to publish guest bloggers from John Kerry to Van Jones, from Bill McKibben to Paulina Borsook. And [...]/p

How Dangerous is the Radioactive Wave Headed Toward the US?

Payola for the Most Profitable Corporations in History | Common Dreams

Payola for the Most Profitable Corporations in History | Common Dreams
"In most schools outside of K Street, that’s an answer that would get a failing grade and we’d start calling subsidies by another name. Handouts, maybe. Freebies. Baksheesh. Payola. Or to use the president's formulation, "all of the above."

How Exxon Mobil Finances The Republican Party

How Exxon Mobil Finances The Republican Party: The Senate minority who last week blocked a vote on ending Big Oil subsidies received more than four times the oil and gas contributions than the 51 senators voting to end them. Exxon Mobil, the world’s most profitable corporation, has helped preserve these and other loopholes for oil and gas by building a Washington force [...]/p

Bill McKibben: How You Subsidize The Energy Giants To Wreck The Planet

Bill McKibben: How You Subsidize The Energy Giants To Wreck The Planet: by Bill McKibben, via TomDispatch Along with “fivedollaragallongas,” the energy watchword for the next few months is: “subsidies.” Last week, for instance, New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez proposed ending some of the billions of dollars in handouts enjoyed by the fossil-fuel industry with a “Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act.”  It was, in truth, nothing to [...]/p

USGS: Recent Earthquakes 'Almost Certainly Manmade' | Common Dreams

USGS: Recent Earthquakes 'Almost Certainly Manmade' | Common Dreams
"A US Geological Survey research team has linked oil and natural gas drilling operations to a series of recent earthquakes from Alabama to the Northern Rockies."

The Regulation Killers » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

The Regulation Killers » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"The Republican Party has a sense of humor, however inadvertently. It’s ardent advocates regularly accuse the Obama Administration of heavy handed regulation of business."

Round Up the Chemicals – For Our Children’s Sake | Common Dreams

Round Up the Chemicals – For Our Children’s Sake | Common Dreams
"But at this point, with our bee population in serious crisis and the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) telling us that 1 in 88 children is now diagnosed with autism (a figure that does not include all the many, many children who are diagnosed “on the spectrum” with some form of mental impairment), it is impossible for the corporate honchos to keep the lid on this story any longer."

Report: Worldwide Opposition to Monsanto Growing | Common Dreams

Report: Worldwide Opposition to Monsanto Growing | Common Dreams

“Farmers worldwide are resisting for food sovereignty, but the rest of the world must join us."

- Common Dreams staff

Time Running Out for Sustainable Future: Report | Common Dreams

Time Running Out for Sustainable Future: Report | Common Dreams

Worldwatch maps sustainable 'good life', warns great changes must be made before it's too late

GM’s Sales Of Fuel-Efficient Cars Are Surging

GM’s Sales Of Fuel-Efficient Cars Are Surging: pTired of sending their paychecks to Exxon Mobil as gas prices rise, Americans are increasingly buying fuel-efficient cars. General Motors, again the world’s number-one automobile company after its salvation by the Obama administration, reports that cars with a fuel economy of 30 miles per gallon and higher now make up 40 percent of its sales, [...]/p

J Henry Fair "Schwarze Energie: Changing The Momentum"

TED talk Berlin

April 3 News: Massive Dolphin Die-Offs In Gulf Of Mexico Have Researchers Looking At Link To BP Oil Spill

April 3 News: Massive Dolphin Die-Offs In Gulf Of Mexico Have Researchers Looking At Link To BP Oil Spill: pOther stories below: U.S. military forges ahead with plans to combat climate change; Canada will send oil to Asia even if Keystone XL proceeds, says Canadian PM Thousands of Dolphins Dying in Gulf Waters The dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are in the midst of a massive die-off. The reasons why remain a complicated [...]/p

March Heat Records Crush Cold Records by Over 35 To 1, Scientists Say Global Warming Loaded The Dice

March Heat Records Crush Cold Records by Over 35 To 1, Scientists Say Global Warming Loaded The Dice: The final data is in for the unprecedented March heat wave that was “unmatched in recorded history” for the U.S. (and Canada).  New heat records swamped cold records by the stunning ratio of 35.3 to 1. This ratio is almost off the charts, even with the brutally warm August we had, as this chart from Capital [...]/p

Fukushima Radiation Moving Steadily Across Pacific | Common Dreams

Fukushima Radiation Moving Steadily Across Pacific | Common Dreams

Concentrated levels found as scientists sample the Pacific for signs of Fukushima

Warming Arctic Forewarns Ecological Ruin | Common Dreams

Warming Arctic Forewarns Ecological Ruin | Common Dreams
U.S. Coast Guard captain: "No one" is prepared to deal with a disaster in the Arctic

Protect Our Public Lands

Protect Our Public Lands from Sierra Club National on Vimeo.

How the Big Energy Companies Plan to Turn the United States into a Third-World Petro-State | | AlterNet

How the Big Energy Companies Plan to Turn the United States into a Third-World Petro-State | | AlterNet
"Will North America become not just the next boom continent for energy bonanzas, but a new energy Third World?"

Fukushima: Radiation So High Even Robots Are Disabled

National Occupation of Washington, DC Begins with Demonstration at the EPA

Conservatives Advocate Wasting Energy for 'Earth Hour'

Conservatives Advocate Wasting Energy for 'Earth Hour'
"But I’ll never understand what’s supposed to be “conservative” about deliberately wasting energy."