Fracking actually got the treatment several months ago as people started worrying their sinks might ignite from methane contamination, but I just saw it this week. It does a decent job of summarizing the general idea behind fracking (pump a bunch of fluids underground to crack rock, extract natural gas) and why people are concerned/opposed/scared [...]

By now, you have probably heard the call by democrats and environmentalists to “end the $4 billion in subsidies for big oil.” The five major oil companies that have a significant presence in the United States – Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP and Conoco – are some of the biggest businesses in America, and have some [...]

How to Explain Climate Change to a Skeptic Rick Santorum has recently described climate change as a hoax – a bunch of “bogus” science that tries to make nature’s normal “boom and bust” cycle into something man-made.  His comments illustrate how, despite the fact that the scientific community accepts climate change as truth, and despite [...]

I want to share a short video by documentary filmmaker Gary Hustwit and director Jessica Edwards. The Landfill is a short (three minute) film about the often overlooked business of dealing with the things we no longer want to deal with – you know, things like old tires, uneaten food, and other gross things that [...]

Today, President Obama unveiled his $3.8 trillion 2013 budget proposal for the federal government. According to Mark Z. Barabak at the LA Times, this budget “is, at its hear, a political document, laying out [the President’s] priorities and, not incidentally, reflecting the strategy he plans to pursue in his reelection bid.” In the energy sphere, [...]

Earlier this month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released data showing the continued downward trend of natural gas prices in the United States. In the face of warmer-than-normal winter temperatures and rising domestic natural gas production, natural gas spot prices hit near 10-year lows. Subsequently, the EIA released its projections related to natural gas [...]

By Ellen Berry College students may still have to burn the midnight oil, but many of their classrooms, libraries, residence halls, laboratories, student centers, and stadiums are healthier, more efficient environments. Over the last year, approximately 20 higher-education buildings in the US were certified as LEED Platinum – the highest level of green building recognized [...]

In a historic vote earlier today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved Southern Company’s application to construct the nation’s first nuclear reactors in over 30 years. The license was granted in a 4-1 vote, and permits two new reactors to be built at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle (about 170 miles east of Atlanta). Plant Vogtle already [...]

The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has created a zoomable, draggable Google-style map that allows users to explore where clean energy resources are located within the United States. Included in the available list of resources are hydro, biomass residue, geothermal, solar PV, solar thermal, off- and on-shore wind, and wave power. One can zoom [...]

Okay, I have to be honest with you. I love a city, and a downtown with walkways and tunnels and bus stops that tell me where my buses are via GPS and everything else, but sometimes you can just have more connectivity than you need. Remember the internet-connected toaster, that singed the weather forecast into [...]