Water, water everywhere in California, but no way to hold onto it

Mar 22, 2017
California’s had one of the wettest winters on record — more than twice as much rain and snow as in an average year. That’s especially wild since we’re six years into a historic drought. But California doesn’t have enough dams, reservoirs or other storage. So instead of using it, all that precipitation just joins the […]

Wastewater: our most overlooked water source?

Mar 22, 2017
March 22 is World Water Day, and this year’s theme is wastewater. The United Nations is hoping to shed light on the value of all the water we literally flush down the toilet. Other countries use wastewater, but the idea hasn’t taken hold in the U.S. Click the audio player above to hear the full […]

Sunshine seems a better business bet to Nevada than coal

Mar 20, 2017
Despite the Trump administration’s push for coal and other fossil energy, Nevada just went dramatically in the other way. On the day after it pulled the plug on a coal-fired power plant, it cut the ribbon on a new solar energy farm. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

Electric cars have arrived. But what about electric motorcycles?

Mar 17, 2017
They're fast enough to keep up with gas-powered bikes. But can the charging infrastructure meet demand?
Kai Ryssdal, right, talks with Harlan Flagg, left, of Hollywood Electrics. Flagg says the store is No. 1 dealer of electric motorcycles.
Robert Garrova / Marketplace

Food labeling and liability laws don’t make it easy to feed the hungry

Mar 10, 2017
America wastes an estimated 63 million tons of food each year, while 1 in 6 Americans are without enough affordable, nutritious food. We’re all responsible, whether it’s leftovers at a restaurant or that bruised peach that gets thrown. But one more guilty party? The law. A report out of Harvard Law and the Natural Resources Defense […]

EPA attacks harken back to Reagan era

Mar 10, 2017
1980s' push to deregulate the agency resembles the Trump administration's plans.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt holds up an an agency baseball hat as he addresses employees at the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters in February.
Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

Coal is a resource curse for southern Illinois economies

Feb 22, 2017
Eight decades of boom and bust ends in bust and leaves land dry.
Arthur Rothstein/Wikimedia Commons

For public good, not for profit.

How sustainable seafood can harm coastal communities

Feb 14, 2017
Lee van der Voo wrote about the 'catch share' system in her book 'The Fish Market.'
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

FERC loses a member, throwing a wrench into pipeline approvals

Jan 27, 2017
The agency that OKs pipelines will be stalled on a number of key builds for the foreseeable future.

New York bets on offshore wind power, and not because it’s cheaper

Jan 26, 2017
The largest project of its kind in the U.S. has been approved by a public utility.