When the space shuttle launched on Monday, it wasn't carrying a new satellite or even burrito ingredients. It was packed with a bunch of spare parts for the International Space Station, like refurbished gyroscopes, pumps, tanks for ammonia and nitrogen and a huge reel for the station's robotic arm....

MTA Chief Likes Congestion Pricing

There's a state budget crisis that could bring big service cuts or more fare hikes, but Jay Walder has bigger concerns on his mind. The new chairman of New York City's MTA, formerly of the London Underground, wants to introduce smart cards, arrival-time clocks...

As savvy moves by officials in China are pushing its state-run English-language news outlets to start sounding a bit more like their Western counterparts, did a New York Times article over the weekend about improvements to air quality in Beijing bear echoes of state-run media?

The good news,...

Emissions aren't the only thing being cut by the recession. On the same day that the Times axes 100 newsroom staff, Columbia University's prestigious journalism school announces that it will be suspending its 14-year-old enviornmental journalism masters program amidst a media-wide financial crisis. This sounds like...

China is famous for mining one of the yuckiest, costliest and deadliest natural resources. But it's also home to 93 percent of the global production of so-called rare earth elements -- including two metals essential for a wide array of green technologies, from hybrid cars to wind turbines....

"Responsibility" and "cleanliness" might not be synonymous with the world's biggest music and culture festival, which turns a Tennessee farm into a four-day party for 70,000 hippies, hipsters, baby-boomers and even the occasional baby.

Sure -- and forgive the stereotype -- peace, love, caring are baked right in. But...

TreeHugger

Coal companies would not exist if not for the "corruption" of politicians, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. told me in an interview at Bonnaroo, singling out "family friends of ours forever," like West Virginia Democrats Jay Rockefeller and Robert Byrd.

"They're allowing and endorsing criminal behavior and destroying...

He may have lost to Kris Allen on American Idol, but Steve Martin and his banjo album "The Crow" landed on the pop charts this week, his first time back there since 1981's EP "The Steve Martin Brothers." Yet if we were guessing that his new Billboard status might...

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After four days of attempts by Republicans to further water it down and debate among environmentalists about its current merits, the landmark greenhouse gas emissions bill is on its way out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee tonight -- but not without a few...

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Pierce Brosnan continued his environmental assault on Washington yesterday with a visit to the White House and a mixer for members of Congress to talk up a bill on whale preservation.

"In spite of the existence of a moratorium on commercial whaling, the setting of whaling...

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Just as the Obama administration is launching an interagency task force to boost the biofuel industry amidst an industry-wide slump, it is also preparing to rigorously measure the carbon footprint of biofuels, making them look even more controversial and environmentally risky.

The effort announced...

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On This Week with George Stephanopoulos Sunday, conservative columnist George Will commented on President Obama's emphasis on green cars, now that the White House is arguably a co-owner of Chrysler and is running GM, and said that the Prius is only successful because it doesn't...

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Might Swine Flu be the Twitter of viruses?

Bear with me for a moment.

- It has spread -- or word of it has spread -- like wildfire.
- It is surrounded by a huge cloud of hype.
- It's unclear why...

When it comes to talking about climate change and the costs of fighting it, not all Republicans find it easy being green (or rational, for that matter). Yesterday's opening of hearings on the draft bill on climate change before the House included this grandstanding gem from Rep. John...

While Obama meets with Latin American leaders this weekend to discuss US relations, he'll be doing so in the shadow of a newer growing player in the region: China. While the economic crisis unnerves Latin American leaders, the Chinese government is stepping in with money for the area's abundant natural...

Few would disagree with the idea of clean energy: it can help reduce global warming, air pollution, energy shortages, the national debt, and our reliance on foreign oil. But America isn't exactly putting its money where its mouth is. How to get average people to know that "clean energy is...

Buffett on Board
BYD, the Chinese battery maker-turned-automaker that stunned the world with the first mass-market electric plug-in car late last year, remains something of a wild card. The car, the F3DM, goes 62 miles on a single charge -- farther than other electric vehicles -- and sells...

Thanks to Brian at TreeHugger, we now know how overfishing landed Capt. Phillips (and a band of pirates) in hot water. According to Chinese state media, it seems that we have another feedback effect: marine life in the Gulf of Aden is joining the pirate fight.
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In a lively discussion at New York's Columbia University today, media titan Ted Turner lamented the US auto industry's slow approach to green, promised to talk with Rupert Murdoch about the Wall Street Journal's skeptical take on climate change, and criticized environmental coverage by CNN, the network he founded.

In the West, celebrity spokespeople need to worry about their bad behavior, lest they lose their endorsement deals. In China, celebrities need to start worrying about the things they're endorsing.

Prompted by a slew of food safety scandals, the Chinese parliament has passed a sweeping food safety law that...