Environment

The renewable energy company Evergreen Solar spent millions of dollars building a high tech plant to make solar panels. But after three years, the company is closing its Massachusetts factory.

In the latest edition of Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner talks to Kai Ryssdal about what it might take to get people to throw away less trash.

This final note today, a word on commodities as we leave 2010 in the rear view mirror....

Hotels around the country are urging their customers to "make a green choice" and opt out of daily housekeeping for their rooms. But cutting back on water and electricity might also be cutting back on something else: jobs. Sean Cole reports.

The former pesticide of choice, methyl bromide, was banned internationally. The alternative is methyl iodide, which scientists is toxic. But the state of California says its toxicity can be minimized through regulation. Marketplace's Adriene Hill reports.

Congress failed to pass a climate change bill this year, so the EPA is taking charge. The agency announced it's going to start coming out with new rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions next year. Scott Tong reports.

People rarely think about how much energy they're using to look up directions on their smartphone or a quick factoid on their netbook. But Internet-related energy use is rising rapidly in the U.S.

A new EPA rule from the fall allowed for more ethanol to be mixed in with gasoline, but now automakers are suing, stating that the new blends aren't safe for cars.

Globally, the nuclear energy industry is expected to quadruple capacity over the next 20 years. Britain is considering building several new nuclear reactors. But that raises an important question: what to do with nuclear waste?

Although Washington seems to have given up on a climate change bill, environmental legislation is still alive in other places. California has just approved the second biggest carbon trading market on the planet, and others are watching closely.