Find out where to get rid of your old CDs, crayons, packing peanuts, and more
by Nicole Schuetz
I spent last week visiting some of the landfills TerraPass works with to create carbon offsets. As always, it was great to see these projects and the positive impact they’re [...]
"Story of Cap and Trade" takes a hatchet to climate progress
by Adam Stein
Annie Leonard, creator of the anti-consumerist video The Story of Stuff, has now offered up The Story of Cap and Trade, a video purporting to debunk legislation representing the best hope we have of reducing greenhouse gas [...]
Environmentalists once again prove no match for polished naysayers
by Erik Blachford
Early last week, while in Toronto, I happened into a ticket to one of the Munk Debates . This series, sponsored by Canadian businessman Peter Munk and organized by a local Toronto thinker, Rudyard Griffiths, [...]
Email controversy provides a good excuse to review what we know about climate change
by Adam Stein
Via Clean Break, John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, offers some useful thoughts on the recent controversy surrounding the emails stolen from the Climatic Research Unit at [...]
Outlet timers have come a long way in the last few years
by Erin Craig
As recently reported, I had a rabid vampire at my house: my set-top box and DVR combination. It is designed to be “on” all the time, so it consumes as much energy [...]
Girls age 3, 4, and 7 have strength of twenty men
by Adam Stein
Via Streetsblog, I stumbled across the story of the Pedouins, a family of five on a 7,000-mile bike trip from Kentucky to Alaska on a custom-built tandem. Pedouin is a mash-up of pedal + bedouin, I [...]
Earth continues to warm
by Tim Varga
I’m as disappointed as the next person in some of the conduct evident in the hacked emails of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. Although I generally have some sympathy for a derogatory tone taken towards the so-called skeptics — after [...]
Cap and trade rules point way to emission reductions
by Adam Stern
CaliforniaÂ’s Air Resources Board (CARB) released draft cap-and-trade regulations (pdf) last week, which will be a central part of the stateÂ’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The agencyÂ’s proposal [...]
Controversial idea hailed as either savior of destroyer of civilization
by Adam Stein
The Dutch cabinet has approved a plan for a GPS-based driving tax, to be set at an average of $0.07 per mile in 2012, rising over time. Motorists will be charged more for driving on [...]
One homeowner's quest to pry a DVR's fangs from her outlets
by Erin Craig
I discovered a vampire at my house. Not a sexy Edward/Eric/Bill type, alas; mine was downright ugly and acted more like an Alaskan mosquito or a leech. IÂ’m talking about an electricity vampire, a [...]
Apples are a delicious gift from Aunt Thestrongwilleattheweak
by Adam Stein
Because I’m pretty sure no one actually reads anything on this web site over Thanksgiving, I’m outsourcing today’s effort to the ever-funny Dinosaur Comics, today delivering a timely message about man’s relationship to the natural world. [...]
The comic stylings of Al Gore
by Adam Stein
More Thanksgiving lazyblogging. First up, Al Gore on Saturday Night Live, promising to outcrazy the crazy:
The main problem with this clip is that it’s not particularly funny. Not hugely unfunny, but nothing too spectacular. This one from 30 Rock is better:
Al Gore pulls [...]
European trading system offers lessons for U.S. lawmakers to ignore
by Adam Stein
At Worldchanging, Eric de Place takes a look at the success of the European cap-and-trade system in reducing emissions:
The EU’s cap-and-trade program was, indeed, highly imperfect. It relied on inaccurate estimates of emissions, [...]
UN report focuses attention on the issue that dare not speak its name
by Adam Stein
Population, my least favorite topic, is back in the news as the focus of a recent United Nations report that examines the links between gender and climate change. Amid calls for [...]
The Times rehashes old arguments
by Adam Stern
On a day when President Obama and President Hu announced new U.S.-China climate agreements in Beijing, the editors at the New York Times chose to give front-page visibility to a story that criticizes carbon offsets. Surely history will [...]
Europe is on track to meet goals. The rest of the world should take note.
by Adam Stein
It seems like it should be bigger news that the Kyoto Protocol is working:
According to new data from the European Environment Agency (EEA), all of the EU-15 [...]
Vandalism and theft affect 80% of bikes
by Adam Stein
I more or less ignored some of the early reports of trouble with the Velib bike-sharing program in Paris, because they seemed thinly reported. But the recent Times article paints a troubling picture:
With 80 percent of [...]
Stimulus funds, consumer backlash, and intelligent thermostats
by Adam Stein
Lotsa smart grid news these days:
Barack Obama announced $3.4 billion in stimulus funding for smart grid projects. A good chunk of that goes to smart meter deployment and demand response programs. Another huge chunk goes to grid [...]
Yes, there's an app for that too.
by Hanh Ho
Do you ever look out your window, watch the branches swaying in the wind and wonder whether you could be generating your own wind power? Well iPhone users, you can now download the app you never knew you [...]
Another project up for public comment
by TerraPass
PagelÂ’s Ponderosa Dairy is located in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, near Lake Michigan and Green Bay. The dairy has been family owned and operated for over 60 years, and is currently run by Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year Award winner John Pagel. The project has [...]
New report makes questionable claim
by Adam Stein
Conventional wisdom has it that meat production is responsible for about 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions — a shocking enough figure as it is. But lately a much higher number has been circulating, with some claiming that meat is [...]
Some extraordinary -- and upsetting -- pictures show directly how our waste impacts our environment
by Pete Davies
Chris Jordan uses his photographs to illustrate the complexities and enormities of the problem with have with our consumption and its impact on the environment. Until recently his work focused [...]
Essential reading for Copenhagen and beyond
by Adam Stern
When Al Gore released his movie and book An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, he was praised for raising awareness about global warming. For those who wished he had included more information about solutions, the former vice president has responded [...]
Even renewable energy can be resource intensive
by Peter Freed
I’d love to believe that all renewable energy projects are a great way to generate power without putting a strain on our resources and the planet. Unfortunately, many projects present uncomfortable tradeoffs. The New York Times’ greeninc [...]
Another project up for public comment
by Adam Stein
Crow Wing County landfill is in Brainerd, Minnesota, about two hours north of Minneapolis. Despite its small size, the landfill is an innovator that has achieved extraordinarily high recycling rates. One of their most recent initiatives is a landfill [...]
Access to supermarkets is more important than access to farms
by Adam Stein
The review of Green Metropolis kicked off a discussion that illustrates some of the confusion that crops up in discussions of density. Hoisting a representative snippet up from comments:
I think people can be [...]
And the religious right gets in on the act
by Adam Stein
This isn’t exactly a new trend — I remember writing about it several years ago — but it seems to be picking up some steam:
More than 13,000 hunters and anglers from across the country [...]
It's just simple Freakonomics!
by Adam Stein
I generally don’t indulge in blog rants, mostly because I’m just not very good at them. David Roberts, on the other hand, is good at them, and he puts to words some of the deep disgust I’ve been feeling over' [...]
San Francisco skips the green garages, focuses on pricing
by Adam Stein
Let’s talk parking. Recently I suggested that building new parking garages isn’t an environmentally friendly thing to do, even if such garages are nicely landscaped and have energy-efficient lighting systems. The environmental impact of the structures [...]
Tricycles + laser range finders = your daily wow
by Adam Stein
I remember being amazed when Mapquest came out in, what, 1997? How could it possibly know where my house was? How was it able to instantly come up with a route between Anchorage and Miami? The [...]
Plus: bonus inspirational story to get you in the mood
by Adam Stein
Last week I wrote about how writing a letter is this easiest and most important thing you can do to protect the environment. This week, I have a follow-up suggestion: actually write the letter. [...]
David Owen finds an green paradise hiding in plain sight
by Adam Stein
David Owen’s book Green Metropolis, an expansion of his 2004 New Yorker article on the environmental benefits of cities, puts forth two propositions: first, that urban living is inherently more resource-efficient and therefore [...]
Exploring alternative transportation options
by Mark Frey
Over the past month or so IÂ’ve been rethinking how I get to work. My routine has been shifting as my son sleeps in a bit later at times (thank goodness), and as his activities and naps tend to take place [...]
Kerry and Graham collaboration could lead to 60 votes
by Adam Stern
Optimism is growing in Washington that the U.S. Senate could pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation by early next year. A series of developments, including a recent New York Times op-ed by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) [...]
Some very cool stuff is happening at one of our carbon offset projects, the Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority landfill in south-central Pennsylvania.
by Erin Craig
The GLRA project captures landfill methane, the fourth-largest source of US anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (see this handy EPA fact sheet; all [...]
Tips for keeping your home comfortable during the in-between seasons
by Erin Craig
This time of year, we play a strange game of “chicken” at my house, watching each other to see who will break down and turn on the heat. We have radiant heat, which means a boiler [...]
Three simple steps -- easier than changing your light bulbs
by Adam Stein
The topic of this year’s Blog Action Day is climate change, which is convenient for me. In keeping with the spirit of the event, I thought it might be useful to let people know how [...]
Clearing up after a flood costs money, wastes energy and reduces productivity. Just like climate change.
by Pete Davies
We’re in the middle of the first storm of the season on the West Coast. As I write this I’m looking at a pile of industrial hairdryers that are [...]
"Eco-friendly" garages are anything but
by Adam Stein
I just finished David Owen’s Green Metropolis, the book-length treatment of his 2004 article claiming that New York is the greenest city in America. A full review will have to wait until next week, but if you want [...]
Designing water-neutral homes
by Adam Stein
Water and climate change are inextricably linked. As the planet warms, weather patterns will shift, exacerbating drought in some areas and delivering more rainfall to others. Water itself requires energy to deliver, so excess use compounds our energy problems. And many renewable [...]
New study attempts to define thresholds for man's impact on planetary processes
by Adam Stein
Surely the scariest aspect of climate change is the concept of tipping points: sudden and potentially irreversible changes in the earth’s natural processes that render the planet much less hospitable for humankind. The [...]
Is it possible to buy green and save green when it comes to mattresses, and should you care?
by Alicia Seiger
Mattress shopping may be the single most unpleasant purchasing experience one can voluntarily undertake. Even Consumer Reports throws up its hands, saying that comparing mattress makes and [...]
Three leaders talk through what's needed to get a deal in Copenhagen
by Adam Stern
Reaching a climate agreement among the 190 countries expected at the UN talks in Copenhagen in December remains a daunting task. The political and economic differences between industrialized and developing nations may prove [...]
Agency makes small but significant rule change to tailor Clean Air Act to carbon dioxide
by Adam Stein
Last week, the EPA made a minor rule change with potentially large repercussions. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to regulate polluters who emit more than 250 [...]
L Prize competition tries to sidestep early mistakes in quest for better light
by Adam Stein
Philips may claim the “L Prize,” a $10 million award from the Department of Energy for any light that can reproduce the color and intensity of a 60-watt bulb using only 1/6 [...]
Economic woes have social and environmental costs
by Tim Varga
The recent financial collapse of a forestry plantation on an island in Northern Australia moved me for a number of reasons. For starters, the story, beautifully told by Verlyn Klinkenborg in the New York Times, serves as [...]
Many capitalists love the economy and the environment
by Mark Mondik
Capitalism has gotten a pretty bad rap over the past couple years, and even the most bloodthirsty plutocrat might begrudgingly admit that some of the knocks are deserved. The avarice of recent years underscores one of the [...]
No Impact Man pushes back on his critics
by Adam Stein
In a Grist interview, Colin Beavan (aka No Impact Man) muses over the question of why some critics seem eager to cast his project as a poor alternative to political activism, rather than as a complementary [...]
Good places to grow up aren't always good places to grow old
by Adam Stein
I do understand the appeal of the suburbs — the privacy, the open space — but one thing has long seemed pretty clear: suburbs are a difficult place to grow old.
I’ve certainly' [...]
Phoenix system outpaces expectations, proves detractors wrong
by Adam Stein
Any proposed new mass transit system inevitably touches off a religious war between those who see light rail as the saving grace of car-choked, sprawling metropolitan areas, and those who view it as an expensive boondoggle. Unsurprisingly, my [...]
Governor says the law cutting greenhouse gases is vital for California's future.
by Adam Stern
Speaking on the third anniversary of the signing of CaliforniaÂ’s Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) in San Francisco yesterday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave a full-throated defense of the stateÂ’s landmark law' [...]
Join us for a webinar on upcoming legislation and its implications for your business.
by Pete Davies
A quick plug:
On Tuesday September 29 TerraPass will be hosting a free webinar called Climate change legislation and what it means for your business.
It’s open to all (but you need to register in advance) [...]
Thin, flexible OLEDs may be the future of lighting
by Adam Stein
Old-school incandescent light bulbs are going the way of the dodo — already illegal in Europe and soon enough in the United States as well. Mostly CFLs will replace them in the near term, but as [...]
Sarkozy proposes emissions tax, plus tariffs on products from polluting countries
by Adam Stein
France is getting ready to impose a $25-per-ton carbon tax on heating oil, gasoline, and natural gas. President Nicolas Sarkozy claims that the new fee is really a tax shift — the money [...]
California proposes television efficiency standards, but most gadgets go unregulated
by Adam Stein
Gadgets, those little energy vampires that remain almost constantly plugged in, are sucking our energy system dry:
Worldwide, consumer electronics now represent 15 percent of household power demand, and that is expected to triple [...]
We've got to focus on the cause, not the symptoms
by Tim Varga
In early July at the Major Economies Forum in L’aquila, Italy, G8 leaders took a big step by publicly announcing a goal of limiting global warming to 2° C. Let us all acknowledge that it' [...]
A new worldwide database to list carbon offset purchases
by TerraPass
ThereÂ’s a new database in town. The World Carbon Database (WCD) is a non-profit open source site that comprehensively indexes carbon offset purchases. Visitors to the WCD website can look up any individual or company to see if their offset [...]
We have a range of tools to restore fisheries, but all require good government
by Tim Varga
The concept of restoring ecosystems damaged by human exploitation has always interested me, so the recent edition of Science featuring Restoration Ecology sent my heart into a pitter-patter. There are a [...]
The program was cheap, stimulated the economy, and reduced emissions. Why the carping?
by Adam Stein
I’m not sure why it’s so hard for people to admit that the Cash for Clunkers program basically worked.
I mean, I know it seems like the ultimate boondoggle: let’s pay people [...]
New campaigns seek to influence votes in Senate
by Adam Stern
Television advertising may be pivotal in the coming debate about climate legislation in the U.S. Senate. Analysts believe that 20-25 senators may still be undecided on how they will vote on an energy/climate bill later this year. That leaves room for [...]
Study suggests family planning is one of the lowest-cost ways to reduce CO2
by Adam Stein
People may be the problem, but what’s the solution? Although energy use is driven by demographic trends, we don’t seem to have many tools readily at hand for addressing population as a [...]
A century of damming and diverting threatens to leave the West high and dry
by Nicole Schuetz
I just finished reading the environmental classic Cadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner. The book tells the story of water policy in the Western United States from the mid-1800s (the time of [...]
California and Japan pursue projects to beam energy from satellites
by Adam Stein
Generating solar energy in space stations and beaming it down to earth is a wacky idea, but it’s also an interesting one, and not just for the obvious reasons (outer space, energy beams, etc). To [...]
And Better Place will provide electric taxis in Tokyo
by Adam Stein
Paris is preparing to unveil a car-sharing program consisting of a 4,000 electric cars and 1,400 rental stations scattered throughout the city and neighboring suburbs.
Dubbed Autolib, after the popular Velib bike-sharing program, the car-sharing service [...]
Nine year's of utility bills tell a story of one family's energy use over time
by Erin Craig
During an attempt to bring order to our household files, my husband and I discovered that we saved enough utility bills to reconstruct a nearly complete record of our household energy and water use [...]
New study suggest we need to look elsewhere to curb carbon emissions
by Adam Stein
Dueling headlines cropped up in my newsreader today:
More People, Less Driving: The Imperative of Curbing Sprawl (Smart Growth America)
Vs.:
Forget Curbing Suburban Sprawl: Building denser cities would do little to reduce [...]
Flathead project is first landfill gas-to-energy plant in Montana
by Adam Stein
The next project up for public comment is the Flathead County Landfill gas to energy plant, the first such system in the state of Montana. Located 25 miles from Glacier Park, this project will expand [...]
Study claims the devices pay themselves back in a year
by Adam Stein
Last week brought the unsurprising news that mp3s are more environmentally friendly than physical CDs. I wondered at the time whether the same might be true for digital books:
ItÂ’s not clear to me, [...]
And the lessons it offers for a more sustainable future
by Adam Stein
I’m not sure what link trail led me to this five-year-old New Yorker piece on the greenest city in America, but it holds up quite well. According to New Yorker magazine, the greenest city [...]
Kind of like a feed-in tariff, but possibly much better
by Adam Stein
California has proposed setting up an open bidding process for mid-size solar projects. Under the scheme, utilities would rank bids by price and accept all of the cheapest proposals that their budgets allow. The [...]
Taking aim at wannabe Thoreaus (including Thoreau)
by Adam Stein
If you read only one piece of long-form environmental journalism this month, make it Elizabeth Kolbert’s New Yorker piece on the uncertain lessons to be learned from “eco-stunts,” the tradition of self-promotional experiments in green living that [...]
Energy efficiency shows vast potential for environmental and economic benefits
by Adam Stein
I had hoped to have time by now to actually read the splashy new McKinsey report on the potential for energy efficiency measures to slash the national carbon footprint. But I haven’t, so I’m just going to quote [...]
Some less-than-worldchanging ideas for a more energy efficient future
by Adam Stein
An Iranian engineer has come up with an unlikely breakthrough in gasoline-free transportation by creating a hybrid automobile that connects an electric drive train — to a horse.
In a design that owes more to the Volt [...]
"Sprawl" is too squishy a target to hit, but the contest's results are still instructive
by Adam Stein
I had some fun last week with the Reburbia design competition, a contest seeking to “re-invent the suburbs” via “future-proof spaces and systems” — “the wilder the better!” The [...]
Litter box and toothpaste tubes pose environmental conundrums great and small
by Hanh Ho
Amy and Adam live in a small community in Dallas, Oregon. On July 6, 2009, they began their pledge of living without producing garbage for one year. Like many of us, they believe that [...]
Memories of a great experience in Berlin have me rooting for the system in the U.S.
by Peter Freed
Boston has just announced what is slated to become the largest bike sharing network in the U.S. and I’m awfully jealous. My first experience with bike sharing was [...]
Now if someone would just do a similar study for electronic books...
by Adam Stein
This is hardly a shocking result, but it’s kind of fun nonetheless: a life cycle analysis reveals that downloading music digitally creates less than one sixth the carbon emissions of buying it from [...]
Not much, but don't blame GM. Rating the fuel efficiency of plug-ins is hard.
by Adam Stein
GM has created a bit of buzz around its claim that the Chevy Volt gets 230 miles to the gallon in city driving. From the internet a great chorus has' [...]
Because real solutions to our energy problems are too dull, designers have cooked up some loopier ones
by Adam Stein
Dwell magazine and Inhabitat have teamed up to sponsor a “Reburbia” competition in which designers re-envision suburbia in ways that make environmentalists seem as scary and dingbatty as possible.
The [...]
And what responsibility do we bear?
by Mark Mondik
I feel as though I cannot enjoy anything anymore. Every action seems tainted by nagging questions about environmental impact or sustainability. For example, I really like hamburgers but the carbon footprint of cattle production is so high that my [...]
The Red Hills Wind Farm and Charleston Landfill gas-to-energy project may join our portfolio
by Adam Stein
We present to your our latest projects for public review.
The Red Hills Wind Farm, located in Elk City, Oklahoma, has 82 turbines, with a total capacity of 123 megawatts — [...]
Wind turbines are awkward to ship, so manufacturers are getting creative
by Adam Stein
A wind turbine blade passed me going the other direction on the highway the other day, followed by another one. If you’ve never seen these things in real life, you’re missing out. Hundreds of [...]
Including bonus Where The Wild Things Are
by Adam Stein
David Roberts brings the funny in his quest for “songs that express environmental concern and don’t suck.” It’s a quest that largely fails, unless “slightly better white-boy rapping” about methane capture counts as success. The TerraPass office represents 75% of the [...]
Kind of. But a less-glamorous variant promises real green benefits.
by Adam Stein
The unexpected popularity of the cash-for-clunkers program has sent congress scrambling to find more funding. About 250,000 people have taken advantage of the incentives to trade older cars for ones with better fuel efficiency, [...]
Utah's experiment shows happier employees and environmental benefits
by Pete Davies
17,000 Utah state employees have been working four-day weeks since last August. Non-critical government and agency staff have worked ten-hour days Monday-Thursday and then taken three-day weekends. Some of the first findings from the experiment are [...]
Given the high impact of both cloth and plastic, the best option is ditching diapers as soon as possible
by Erik Blachford
As our third child approaches his third birthday, my wife and I find ourselves contemplating how best to get him out of diapers. We’ve been through [...]
Climate change shakes up ecosystems in ways difficult to predict
by Tim Varga
Perhaps the thing about climate change that worries me the most are “unknown unknowns” — those feedback loops and unpredictable shifts in the way the biological and physical worlds function together that could potentially doom [...]
Mark Bittman brings the leafy green pain
by Adam Stein
This is why Mark Bittman writes for the New York Times, and I don’t: 101 fairly awesome-looking salad ideas in one epic article.
I’ll be outsourcing full recipe duty to Mr. Bittman today. A couple of excerpts, chosen [...]
Derivatives, speculation, Goldman Sachs and other four-letter words
by Adam Stein
Paul Krugman digs into an issue that deserves more attention: will Goldman Sachs’ use of derivatives to manipulate the carbon markets inevitably cause the sun to explode, blotting out all life on earth?
Actually, he digs into [...]
Summer negotiations in the Senate will be a hard slog
by Adam Stern
The dog days of summer will soon arrive with Congress starting a month-long recess and official Washington becoming a very quiet place. But behind the scenes, negotiations on a federal climate bill will continue as [...]
Sure, planes are bad, but low-carbon locales might help you work off the debt
by Mark Frey
I’ve just returned from a long-awaited vacation, a return to two of the many places that I have called home over the past several years. The planes, trains, and automobiles along [...]
But as climate change kicks in, seas could end up in nasty feedback loop
by Tim Varga
Sea levels continue to rise, and not just because of melting ice caps, but also because warmer global temperatures cause thermal expansion. The rise in temperature would be even greater if [...]
Greenopia says our transparency is unmatched
by Pete Davies
TerraPass is one of the only offset providers to work directly with its offset projects. This means that the offsets we sell to individuals and businesses haven’t been sourced through a third-party, but from farms and landfill owners with [...]
Think it's getting colder? There's a bet for that...
by Pete Davies
We tend to post sites and articles we’ve read and found interesting on our twitter feed (it also has all of our blog posts if you can’t wait for the newsletter). But every now and again one crops up [...]
Does a display of information help us to save energy? Or will it take something more?
by Pete Davies
There’s a house that tweets all of it’s energy usage. And that’s really just the beginning of the information it dumps onto Twitter every day. Even the mousetraps are wired into the matrix…
Residential [...]
We put a man on the moon 40 years ago. But are we up to the challenge of climate change?
by Alicia Seiger
Forty years ago today astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped out of their Apollo spacecraft onto the moon and into what Aldrin described as [...]
Scorecard will rate thousands of suppliers on environmental impact
by Adam Stein
By dint of its sheer size, pretty much everything Wal-Mart does is important. So the long-anticipated launch of the Wal-Mart Sustainability Index — a company-led project to evaluate all of the suppliers whose products appear on [...]
A hearty and healthy warm-weather meal
by Adam Stein
I had this salad at franny’s, a restaurant in Brooklyn that you’d be wise to visit. franny’s is a distinguished member of the new class of Neapolitan pizza-fetish parlors, but the non-pizza portion of its menu is equally beguiling.
If you’ve ever cooked [...]
