News & Commentary

Should You Buy Carbon Offsets?

May 11, 2022 ExplainerUnited States, InternationalBrian Palmer

A practical and philosophical guide to neutralizing your carbon footprint.

Fuel Efficiency Standards Don’t Just Help Curb Climate Change, They Also Create Jobs

August 28, 2018 ExplainerUnited StatesBrian Palmer

So many technological innovations in the automobile industry stem directly from guidelines intended to reduce gas guzzling. If we lose these guidelines, we’ll also lose a lot of our workforce.

When Clean Water’s Not Clear

July 14, 2017 ExplainerUnited StatesBrian Palmer

The Trump administration wants to open our waterways back up to pollution.

The Rise and Fall of Diesel

March 15, 2016 ExplainerUnited StatesBrian Palmer

Clean diesel is an object lesson on "too good to be true." Any kind of diesel exhaust is truly terrible—both for the environment and for our health.

Bring Out Your Dead

September 30, 2015 Latest NewsCanadaBrian Palmer

TransCanada makes a desperate bid to revive the persistently vegetative Keystone XL pipeline.

Das Pollute

September 24, 2015 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

Did Volkswagen expose flaws in our emissions-testing regime?

The Speed Sweet Spot

August 28, 2015 ExplainerUnited StatesBrian Palmer

Not too fast, not too slow—how driving speed and free-flowing traffic can lower the carbon emissions from our tailpipes.

Hey, Congress, Quit Blaming the EPA

August 18, 2015 DispatchColoradoBrian Palmer

The Gold King mine accident is on you, too.

Remember the Kalamazoo

July 21, 2015 DispatchMichiganBrian Palmer

Five years ago, a pipeline spilled a million gallons of tar sands crude into a Michigan river—and we’re still cleaning it up.

Accident at Indian Point

May 14, 2015 Latest NewsNew YorkBrian Palmer

Is it safe to operate a nuclear reactor 34 miles from 8.4 million people?

Bomb Squad #Fail

May 4, 2015 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

The new rules for oil trains are horrifyingly inadequate.

Climate Change Vs. the Blob

April 14, 2015 Latest NewsCaliforniaBrian Palmer

A new study says a stubborn blob of warm ocean water is exacerbating the California drought.

Just the Right Absorbency

March 30, 2015 Latest NewsInternationalBrian Palmer

Tampons—yes, tampons—can solve one of the United Kingdom’s biggest sewage problems.

Obama Talks Keystone XL...Again

March 9, 2015 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

The president talked at length about the pipeline last week. Here’s where he’s right and where he’s wrong.

Next Victim?

February 24, 2015 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

KXL fell to the veto pen today. These anti-environment bills, too, may soon say hello to the president’s little friend.

Gentlemen, Stop Your Engines

February 20, 2015 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

You spend 2 percent of driving time at traffic lights, but inhale 25 percent of your air pollution there.

Off the Rails

February 17, 2015 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

Oil trains keep jumping the tracks, setting towns ablaze, and contaminating water supplies. Here’s why.

California, Here Dry Come!

February 13, 2015 Latest NewsCaliforniaBrian Palmer

A new study shows that the current California drought is nothing compared to what’s coming.

One Fish, Two Fish—Why So Blue, Fish?

January 5, 2015 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

Rising stream temperatures in the Chesapeake Bay region are depriving fish of habitat and oxygen.

Stop Polluting Our Water, Ash Holes!

December 19, 2014 Latest NewsUnited StatesBrian Palmer

The EPA has finally set standards for hazardous coal ash pits. Too bad they’re not good enough.