A new ranking of the world’s nations by environmental performance puts some of the globe’s largest economies far down the list, with the United States sinking to 61st and China to 121st.
In the previous version of the Environmental Performance Index, compiled every two years by Yale and Columbia University researchers, the United States ranked 39th, and China [...]

In case you missed it, the Supreme Court yesterday decided 5 to 4 to roll back campaign finance laws that limit corporate spending. Oof. The Times calls it “a sharp doctrinal shift” that “will have major political and practical consequences. Specialists in campaign finance law said they expected the decision to reshape the way elections [...]

During President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition, the Center for American Progress proposed a 10-point clean-energy agenda for the president and Congress that would speed the economic transformation to a clean energy economy. A review of these items today finds that all were adopted or are working their way through the process. This is a startling achievement [...]

While the scientists involved say there is no current reason for alarm, and that more study is needed to determine exact causes, pay attention to this one: Following up on a story that emerged back in August, BBC News reports that methane bubbling up from the Arctic sea floor appears to be stronger than first [...]

For two weeks we’ve been listening to the story of the leaked emails from the University of East Anglia—a media tempest in an English teapot. And all the time the biggest scandal has been directly under our noses.
This afternoon at Copenhagen a document mysteriously leaked from the UN Secretariat. It was first reported from the [...]