And The World's Third-Largest Carbon Polluter Is...
It's well-known that the United States and China are the two biggest greenhouse-gas polluters in the world. But relatively few people can name number three on that list. It's Indonesia, thanks to heavy deforestation: READ MORE >>
And In the Other War...
When Obama was running for president last year, he chided Republicans for taking their eye off the ball in Afghanistan. Now that we’re all appropriately obsessed with each new installment in the AfPak saga, it seems Americans (and the media) are paying less attention to Iraq. READ MORE >>
Financial Innovation We Can Believe In?
It's fairly well-established that people could save money over the long run by making their homes more energy-efficient—better insulation, say—or even, in some cases, putting solar panels on their roofs to generate their own electricity. But many of these upgrades never happen, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the incentives are misaligned, if, say, the landlord owns the building but the tenant pays electricity and heating costs. READ MORE >>
Maldives Goes Under
Over the weekend, Maldives held its first cabinet meeting underwater. Yes, underwater: The ministers of the tiny island nation all put on scuba gear and sat at desks six meters below sea-level in a rather brazen bid to get people to pay attention to the rising sea levels that are threatening countries like the Maldives. READ MORE >>
And The Solar Decathlon Winner Is...
Score another one for German engineering. Out on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., this week, the Energy Department has been hosting its fourth-ever Solar Decathlon—a competition among 20 designs for solar-powered houses from around the world. The houses compete across ten categories (hence "decathlon"), ranging from the amount of electricity they can feed back to the grid to the quality of parties they can host. READ MORE >>
Play it Again, Selig!
Bobby Keppel’s bases-loaded fastball clearly grazed Brandon Inge. Joe Mauer’s slicing drive down the left field line landed fair by at least two feet. And Chase Utley needed not one, but two blown calls to reach base safely in the ninth. Or at least these misfortunes were clear enough on instant replay. But the umps ruled otherwise and another World Series dream was deferred for the Tigers, Twins, and Rockies—all small-market clubs, conspiracy theorists will be pleased to note. READ MORE >>
Why Guinea is on the Brink
More atrocious details from the Guinean junta's recent crackdown on protesters—of women knifed, whipped, and raped repeatedly by soldiers—surfaced in the Times yesterday. Until recently, the former French colony of approximately 10 million had a reputation for being among the most stable of its West African neighbors. READ MORE >>
What Happened To John McCain?
Is The Natural Gas Lobby Playing Both Sides?
The new Kerry-Boxer climate bill in the Senate shows a lot of love for the natural-gas industry, as Brad noted yesterday. Not only would a price on carbon give natural gas an advantage over more carbon-heavy fuels like oil or coal, but Barbara Boxer specifically added a "clean energy" provision to her bill, which would reward electric utilities for switching from oil or coal to natural gas. READ MORE >>
