by Jess Zimmerman. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu hasn't said definitively whether he supports the Keystone XL pipeline. But he's heavily implied that he's a fan, laying out the project's potential benefits in an interview with energyNOW! . “It's not perfect,” said Chu... 

The water that people drink is supplied from several possible sources such as rainwater collection, ponded surface water, streams, desalinized seawater and well or ground water. Wells can vary greatly in depth, water volume and water quality. Well water typically contains more minerals in solution than... 

Global production of biofuels increased 17 percent in 2010 to reach an all-time high of 105 billion liters, up from 90 billion liters in 2009. High oil prices, a global economic rebound, and new laws and mandates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, and the United States, among other countries, are all... 

While I think no piece about electric bikes is really complete without touching on the Optibike electric mountain bike I had the thrill of taking on a week-long test drive two years ago, this piece by energyNOW!’s Josh Zepps about the trajectory of the e-bike industry in a changing world economy... 

Exxon Mobil Corp and Rosneft signed an agreement to extract oil and gas from the Russian Arctic, in the most significant U.S.-Russian corporate deal since President Barack Obama began a push to improve ties. The pact, which includes an option for Rosneft to invest in Gulf of Mexico and Texan properties,... 

Brasilia, Brazil: Proposed changes to Brazil’s forest laws that will cut back protection and offer wide ranging amnesties for illegal deforestation threaten to undo the country’s impressive performances in cutting back emissions and protecting biodiversity. Go here to read the rest: Brazil... 

Last week, for the second time in two years, federal agents raided the facilities of Gibson Guitars, probably the most well-known guitar maker around the world. Although the two raids are the result of different cases, the accusations then and now are similar – violations of the Lacey Act, a law requiring... 

The massive international pipeline, known as the Keystone XL pipeline, would connect Alberta, Canada’s booming tar sands to refineries in Texas and the Gulf Coast. It would be the longest pipeline outside of Russia and China, and would carry North America’s largest oil deposit to the market.... 

by Jess Zimmerman. Okay, so this video was sponsored by Chipotle, but if you can ignore a small amount of logo placement and posturing, it's really adorable. Look at the little propane-canister-looking pigs! Listen to Willie Nelson make a Coldplay song sound genuinely emotional! Watch the rotund... 

by Jess Zimmerman. New Jersey natives, think fast: Who's your most embarrassing resident, your governor or your reality TV stars? Personally I think the scales are tipping in favor of the Jersey Shore cast. Chris Christie basically hates the environment , but Snooki believes in global warming! She... 

by Christopher Mims. Sixteen-year-old Austin Hay of Santa Rosa, Calif., has been sleeping in a work-in-progress 130 square foot “tiny home” in his parents' backyard for months. The project came about because “like every teenager, I want to move out,” says Hay. Hay learned... 

by Sarah Laskow. Workers broke ground this week in Seattle on a six-story building that will generate its own power, collect and reuse rainwater, compost its sewage, and depend on daylight instead of halogen lamps. Its owner, the Bullitt Foundation, which supports work in sustainability, set out to... 

by Sarah Laskow. Pickup artists among the great tits (a species of bird, ok?) know how to get chicks: They sing at low frequencies just before females of their species begin laying eggs. It's a great technique! Unless they happen to be hanging out near sources of noise pollution, like highways,... 

by Jess Zimmerman. XKCD tackles a neglected aspect of the new climate normal: What are we going to call all these new hurricanes ? Here's the comic's alt text: After exhausting the OED, we started numbering them. When overlapping hurricanes formed at all points on the Earth's surface, and... 

by Sarah Laskow. “The biggest mistake this nation has made in its entire history” would be not to invest in clean energy, VP Joe Biden said yesterday at the National Clean Energy Summit 4.0 The Russian government just cut a deal with Exxon to look for oil in that country’s sector of... 

REACH is a European Union Regulation of December 2006. REACH addresses the production and use of chemical substances, and their potential impacts on both human health and the environment. Its 849 pages took seven years to pass, and it has been described as the most complex legislation in the Union’s... 

New Jersey and Vermont struggled with their worst flooding in decades on Monday, a day after Hurricane Irene slammed an already soaked U.S. Northeast with torrential rain, dragging away homes and submerging neighborhoods underwater. The massive storm churned up the U.S. East Coast over the weekend killing... 

The U.S. Geological Survey has just issued a new report on the amount of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation, and the findings add to the growing uncertainty over just how profitable new gas wells in the region will be over the long run. Drilling in the Marcellus, a rich deposit of natural gas... 

ScienceDaily — Preserving just 4 percent of the ocean could protect crucial habitat for the vast majority of marine mammal species, from sea otters to blue whales, according to researchers at Stanford University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Continued here: Preserving 4 Percent... 

A recent finding, that is sure to delight many of us with a sweet tooth, claims that high levels of chocolate consumption may be associated with a 33 percent decrease in the risk of developing heart disease. The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), confirms existing studies which have...