This week, the Heritage Foundation released a deeply flawed immigration study, debunked by none other than the conservative Cato Institute. It then came to light that one of the co-authors, Jason Richwine wrote his PhD dissertation, IQs and Immigration Policy, on how immigrants...

In the debate over what our energy future will contain, I keep coming back to the question of whether or not fracking can be done safely. There is no question that once out of the ground, natural gas burns cleaner than coal but the actual process of fracking to date...

One way to undermine movement on climate change is to create a false dichotomy that pits advocates against each other. Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening now in the fracking battle. Using the term "fractivists," some environmentalists are blasting celebrities that advocate against fracking and as representatives...

The fight over fracking has moved from an environmental and economic issue to a more fundamental question of democracy. On one side is broad public opposition to a practice that has known environmental and health consequences. On the other side are big corporate interests that make a fortune...

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has opened another public comment period on its proposed fracking regulations in order to extend the rule-making process. The health impacts study is not yet complete and DEC claims it won't make any decisions until it can guarantee that fracking...

A few months ago, Joseph Martens, the Commissioner of New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation, rejected calls for an independent analysis of the health impacts from fracking. Martens' solution was to ask the state's Health Commissioner to appoint independent experts to do the review. Leaving alone the...

No doubt the new International Energy Agency (IEA)'s latest World Energy Outlook will be cause for celebration for the fossil fuel industry. In it, IEA points to the strong oil and gas production in the U.S. and predicts that by within a decade or so, the U.S. will...

The economic analysis of the impact of Hurricane Sandy is a perfect example of the flaws of GDP and our over-reliance on it as a metric of progress. Just like with Hurricane Irene, there will be some GDP growth from Sandy -- spikes in consumption as people stock...

The last presidential debate not only continued the silence on climate change, it also advanced the false narrative that we have to choose between economic growth and action on climate change. While the candidates focused on how to keep gas prices down, increase energy independence, and create jobs, they never...

In politics, there inevitably comes the dreaded time when politics and politicking run into reality. It is the point at which you can no longer appease two opposing parties and a decision must be made that chooses one party's interests over the other. I imagine politicians hate this moment because...

Something that you hear about quite a lot these days is the "all of the above" energy plan. The phrase is in both party platforms with the general idea being that our energy needs should be met by using all forms of energy available -- coal, oil, gas,...

The last few weeks have not brought good news for those of us wanting a future powered by clean energy. The southern portion of the TransCanada pipeline is under construction. On top of that, New York State will lift its moratorium and allow fracking to occur...

In a post written shortly after the Love Canal disaster, Eckardt Beck, the EPA Director at the time, very presciently said:

Quite simply, Love Canal is one of the most appalling environmental tragedies in American history. But that's not the most disturbing fact. What is worse is that...

Within two years, the Enbridge tar sands pipeline has managed to release more than 850,000 gallons of oil in two different spills. The first spill in Southwestern Michigan released over 800,000 gallons of oil and cost more than $800 million to clean up. The second spill released 50,000...

The newest GDP release shows an increase of 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2012, down from a 1.9 percent growth in the first quarter and three percent growth in 2011. But, as Dēmos continually asks in our Beyond GDP work: What exactly is GDP...

One of the big questions environmentalists struggle with is whether there should be a price on nature. For some things, like the cost savings that are realized through cleaner air or water, there is a rote calculation that can be done to price out environmental and health benefits. But, if...

It's Walmart's birthday week. Over 50 years, the retailer has grown into the world's largest private employer with over 2.1 million employees. Every week, more Americans shop at Walmart than turned out to vote in the 2008 presidential election. Walmart has become a dominant economic force, both domestically...

Last week, I wrote about how we need to move beyond GDP as our primary indicator of progress if we want to achieve true sustainable development. This week, at Rio +20, the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Climate Change (IHDP) and UNEP launched a new indicator called...

Ahead of Rio+20, advocates are coalescing around the idea that we need to change the way we measure what is important to achieve true sustainable development. Currently countries measure economic growth, which is often equated with progress, through GDP. However, growth in GDP is increasingly not resulting in progress.

One of the main benefits of renewable energy is that we can meet our energy demands in a way that is more environmentally sustainable and through a medium that has a seemingly infinite supply. In contrast, fossil fuels are extracted through environmentally destructive means and will eventually run out, leaving...