Ben Elgin

Recent Articles by Ben Elgin

July 21, 2011

What’s Killing Carbon Capture?

CCS technology promised the best of all worlds: Abundant power from coal while cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Now pilot programs are pulling the plug

June 2, 2011

Chevy's Carbon Plan: Less Than Meets the Eye

Last year, Chevrolet announced an incentive for the environmentally minded. For anyone who buys a Chevy between Nov. 18 and the end of 2011, the company promises to ...

October 13, 2010

The Political Rumble Over Public Pension Costs

If anyone fits the profile of a San Francisco Democrat, it's Jeff Adachi. In 2004 the elected public defender volunteered to officiate at ceremonies of same-sex ...

July 8, 2010

Steve Peace: California Revolutionary

Steve Peace knows about the consequences of partisan politics. As a Democrat in the California legislature in the late '80s, he voted one time too many with ...

March 10, 2010

Caution: Stats May Be Slippery

Peril permeates a steel mill. Molten metal explodes when exposed to water. Overhead cranes hoist steel coils weighing up to 80,000 pounds. Heavy vehicles roll within ...

December 8, 2009

China: Climate Change or Hot Air?

On the wooded hills outside the city of Harbin in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, Chinese developers are building towering wind turbines that will spin day ...

November 18, 2009

A Big Loophole in Cap and Trade

Nearly 3,000 miles from the U.S. Capitol, where lawmakers are debating landmark climate legislation, a crucial aspect of the national campaign to limit greenhouse gas ...

October 29, 2009

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Pork!

President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates want to leave the Cold War in the past—finally—and reshape the U.S. military into more of a ...

October 14, 2009

Inside the Business War Against Tax Reform

Industry appears to have won its fight to postpone President Barack Obama's corporate tax reform initiative by stressing two themes: that tightening tax rules would ...