Insights + Opinion

Systemic Change Driven by Moral Awakening Is Our Only Hope

Systemic Change Driven by Moral Awakening Is Our Only Hope

Our core ecological problem is not climate change. It is overshoot, of which global warming is a symptom. Overshoot is a systemic issue. Over the past century-and-a-half, enormous amounts of cheap energy from fossil fuels enabled the rapid growth of resource extraction, manufacturing and consumption; and these in turn led to population increase, pollution and […]

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    David Suzuki: Straws Suck

    David Suzuki: Straws Suck

    Of all the plastic products we use and take for granted, plastic drinking straws are among the most unnecessary. Designed to be used once and discarded, their only real purpose is to keep your mouth from touching a glass or ice. It made more sense in the days when contaminated vessels were more of an […]

    Doomsday Scenarios Are as Harmful as Climate Change Denial

    Doomsday Scenarios Are as Harmful as Climate Change Denial

    By Michael E. Mann, Susan Joy Hassol and Tom Toles It is easy to understand why advocates for climate action have become somewhat dispirited in recent months. In the space of less than a year, we’ve seen the U.S. go from playing a leading role in international climate negotiations to now being the only nation […]

    Does Maria Cantwell Stand With the Environment or Stand With Donald Trump?

    Does Maria Cantwell Stand With the Environment or Stand With Donald Trump?

    As Donald Trump continues to stack his administration with fossil fuel industry executives and climate change deniers, new reports have been coming out nearly every day on the imminent threats global warming poses to the future of humanity. Given this, you’d think that a Democratic Senator from Washington state would be doing all she could […]

    Trump Takes Advantage of Europe’s Fossil Fuel Dependence

    Trump Takes Advantage of Europe’s Fossil Fuel Dependence

    After President Trump’s speech last week promoting a dark and dystopian vision—U.S. fossil “energy dominance“— it is no surprise that his visit to Poland centers on promoting U.S. exports of fracked gas. Beyond such bluster, reality tells a different story. U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are expensive. For the economics to work, U.S. […]

    Don’t Be Fooled by Rosy Renewables Projections

    Don’t Be Fooled by Rosy Renewables Projections

    To the casual observer, we are making tremendous progress moving off fossil fuels and developing a clean, renewable energy system. The good news seems to be everywhere: The U.S. Conference of Mayors passed a resolution calling for a transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, and legislation passed in the California Senate to mandate […]

    Attack on Mark Jacobson’s 100% Renewable Energy Plan Is Misguided

    Attack on Mark Jacobson’s 100% Renewable Energy Plan Is Misguided

    The last week has seen a flood of stories on clean energy’s prospects—stories that make your head spin with their conflicting tales of renewable energy’s prospects of ending our dangerous addiction to fossil fuel power from coal and gas. A renewables transition will “happen without Trump” because of market forces—or can’t do the job and […]

    Yellowstone Grizzly Bears to Lose Endangered Species Protection

    Yellowstone Grizzly Bears to Lose Endangered Species Protection

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone region on Thursday from the Endangered Species List. The decision comes despite serious concerns in the scientific community about a declining, isolated population with diminishing food resources and record-high mortalities, as well as strong opposition from an unprecedented number of Tribal Nations. […]

    Proposed Rule Would Permit China to Export Poultry Products to U.S.

    Proposed Rule Would Permit China to Export Poultry Products to U.S.

    The Trump administration will publish a proposed rule Friday that would permit the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to export its own poultry products to the U.S. It is doing so because U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) claims that the PRC’s food safety inspection system is equivalent to ours. The decision comes on the heels […]