Magazine

Switching to electric vehicles could save the US billions, but timing is everything

F. Todd Davidson, University of Texas at Austin; Dave Tuttle, University of Texas at Austin; Joshua D. Rhodes, University of Texas at Austin, and Kazunori Nagasawa, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Today, less than 2 percent of the vehicles Americans buy are electric. But within the next three decades, some automotive industry experts expect electric vehicles …

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Why covering the environment is one of the most dangerous beats in journalism

Eric Freedman, Michigan State University From the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi by Saudi agents to President Trump’s clashes with the White House press corps, attacks on reporters are in the news. This problem extends far beyond the politics beat, and world leaders aren’t the only threats. At Michigan State University’s Knight Center for …

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George H.W. Bush understood that markets and the environment weren’t enemies

Matthew Kahn, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Former President George H.W. Bush, who died on Nov. 30, was admirable for many reasons, from his skillful leadership through the end of the Cold War to his personal warmth and courtesy. As an environmental economist, I believe his approach to …

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Fine particle air pollution is a public health emergency hiding in plain sight

Douglas Brugge, Tufts University and Kevin James Lane, Boston University Ambient air pollution is the largest environmental health problem in the United States and in the world more generally. Fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 millionths of a meter, known as PM2.5, was the fifth-leading cause of death in the world in 2015, factoring in …

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Yes, eating meat affects the environment, but cows are not killing the climate

Frank M. Mitloehner, University of California, Davis As the scale and impacts of climate change become increasingly alarming, meat is a popular target for action. Advocates urge the public to eat less meat to save the environment. Some activists have called for taxing meat to reduce consumption of it. A key claim underlying these arguments …

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Being Good Ancestors

An Interview with Alan Glass of the Pittsburg USD Alan Glass is the Special Projects Accountant/Energy Supervisor in the Facilities Department of the Pittsburg Unified School District. In a Green Technology interview, he discusses what his district is doing to realize its commitment to sustainability and what it means for us to be “good ancestors.” He’ll be discussing …

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Why we can’t reverse climate change with ‘negative emissions’ technologies

Howard J. Herzog, Massachusetts Institute of Technology In a much-anticipated report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the world will need to take dramatic and drastic steps to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change. Featured prominently in the report is a discussion of a range of techniques for removing carbon dioxide from …

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