Coal production costs the U.S. up to $500 billion each year in hidden health, economic, and environmental impacts, according to a new study by Harvard researchers.

Researchers at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School found that the public health costs in (more…)

Those of us who have seen the film documentary “Crude” were heartened yesterday as a court in Ecuador ordered the oil giant Chevron to pay $8.6 billion for dumping billions of gallons of toxic oil waste into Ecuador’s rain forest. The judgment is one of the largest ever imposed for environmental contamination in any court. (more…)

Earlier this week, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In her testimony the Administrator highlighted the agency's ongoing efforts to develop sensible standards that update the Clean Air Act, while ensuring that the landmark law continues to provide Americans (more…)

Texans are proud of a lot of things, but the state’s air quality isn’t one of them. That makes it doubly bizarre that Governor Rick Perry is so determined to stop the EPA from requiring big polluters to conform to the Clean Air Act.

Texas industries produce more toxic mercury pollution, more smog, and more (more…)

Forecasting what the Earth’s climate might look like a century from now has long presented a huge challenge to climate scientists. But better understanding of the climate system, improved observations of the current climate, and rapidly improving computing power are slowly leading to more reliable methods. (more…)

If industrial carbon dioxide emissions continue unabated, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 could by 2100 reach levels not seen in at least 30 million years, when Earth’s average temperature was 25 to 30 degrees F warmer than today, according to an analysis by a U.S. scientist.

Writing in the journal, Science, Jeffrey Kiehl (more…)

Almost all oil production on Alaska’s North Slope remains shut down after workers on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline system discovered a leak over the weekend. BP, the pipeline company’s largest single owner, has called it a “significant event.”

BP is no stranger to pipeline problems in Alaska. We recently reported that a BP (more…)

I believe everyone should have a decent level of familiarity with this Wikipedia listing on the world energy scene, which provides a bit of top-level math. As a civilization, we consume energy at the rate of 15 terawatts (15,000,000,000,000,000)– an estimated 80% – 90% of which comes from fossil fuels. Thus, when we talk about a gigawatt solution — certainly nothing to sneeze at — (more…)

On the typical American roadway, it is not uncommon to see large advertising billboards. Even looking out my office window, I see two of them: one for an insurance company, and the other with a scantily clad woman (not exactly sure what that ad is for). These types of billboards have been around for a long time, but are slowly being replaced with new flashy (more…)

Since the 1970s when environmental concerns first hit the political front, we have made great attempts to encourage sustainable development. These attempts include things such as recycling, carpooling, using energy efficient lights and purchasing products which do not emit harmful chemicals. What is still not being taken into account are things such as (more…)