Unfortunately, I Care About Power Lines Now
Every week, our lead climate reporter brings you the big ideas, expert analysis, and vital guidance that will help you flourish on a changing planet. Sign up to get The Weekly Planet, our guide to living through climate change, in your inbox. A terrible thing happened to me recently. I started to care about electricity-transmission […]
Carbon Tax, Beloved Policy to Fix Climate Change, Is Dead at 47
The American carbon tax, an alluringly simple policy once hailed by environmentalists, scholars, and politicians as a cure-all for climate change that, for all its elegance in economic models, could not overcome its enduring unpopularity with the American public, died last month at its home in Washington, D.C. It was 47. The death was confirmed […]
The Green New Deal Does Not, Strictly Speaking, <em>Exist</em>
Every week, our lead climate reporter brings you the big ideas, expert analysis, and vital guidance that will help you flourish on a changing planet. Sign up to get The Weekly Planet, our guide to living through climate change, in your inbox. Since its ascension in 2018, the Green New Deal has defined the terms […]
The Energy Revolution Is Tweaking OPEC Out
Yesterday, the oil-producers cartel OPEC—which is now somewhat cheekily called “OPEC+,” because Russia joined in 2016—failed to reach an agreement on increasing oil production. Stick with me for a second, because this may not seem like it has much to do with climate change, but in fact it reveals how decarbonization is already shifting how […]
Nowhere Is Ready for This Heat
The Portland Streetcar is 20 years old, making it relatively sprightly for infrastructure in the United States. Yet it was built for a different geological epoch. On Sunday, while Portland suffered through what was then its hottest day ever, the system started to melt. As the temperature reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit, a power cable on […]
A Major New Index Fund Should Unnerve Climate-Skeptical CEOs
Every week, our lead climate reporter brings you the big ideas, expert analysis, and vital guidance that will help you flourish on a changing planet. Sign up to get The Weekly Planet, our guide to living through climate change, in your inbox. Last month, a tiny hedge fund called Engine No. 1 staged a coup […]
The ‘Green Vortex’ Is Saving America’s Climate Future
Here, at least, is the standard story: The past decade has been abysmal for climate-change policy in the United States. In 2009, a handsome new president took office pledging to pass a comprehensive climate bill in Congress. He did not. The Environmental Protection Agency sought to meaningfully reduce carbon pollution from power plants. It did […]
Why the U.S. Doesn’t Dominate the Solar-Panel Industry Anymore
Every week, our lead climate reporter brings you the big ideas, expert analysis, and vital guidance that will help you flourish on a changing planet. Sign up to get The Weekly Planet, our guide to living through climate change, in your inbox. You wouldn’t know it today, but the silicon photovoltaic solar cell—the standard, black-and-copper […]
Wall Street’s ‘Monumental’ Skirmish With Exxon
Every week, our lead climate reporter brings you the big ideas, expert analysis, and vital guidance that will help you flourish on a changing planet. Sign up to get The Weekly Planet, our guide to living through climate change, in your inbox. Here’s a question that has recently become surprisingly important in the battle against […]
Stop Worrying and Love the F-150 Lightning
1. Start with the price—how could you not? The Ford F-150 Lightning, the new electric version of the ur–American pickup truck, will go on sale next spring for $39,974. Because Ford vehicles still qualify for the federal EV tax credit, most Americans will pay a little less than $32,500 for this truck. Thirty-two grand after […]
