Articles by Sarah Laskow
Sarah Laskow is a reporter based in New York City who covers environment, energy, and sustainability issues, among other things.
All Articles
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Judge: Tar-sands equipment can't travel on Montanan backroads
A group of Montanans, Idahoans, Oregonians, and Washingtonians struck a blow against ExxonMobil and its push to extract carbon-soaked oil from Canada's tar sands this week. The Northwesterns weren't upset about the environmental impact of the tar sands, exactly, but they were upset that an Exxon subsidiary wanted to haul oversized loads of oil-extraction equipment from the Port of Vancouver, Wash., over small winding highways in environmentally valuable areas, to the Canadian border.
They asked a judge to stop the company from using those roads. And on Tuesday, he did. -
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In Baltimore, Zipcar users take fewer car trips
Baltimore is an old, industrial city with old, car-focused transportation infrastructure. But add a little Zipcar in, and Baltimore residents suddenly get a lot more gung ho about walking, biking, and taking the bus.
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Critical List: Operators say the grid can handle the heat; green tech investment down
Grid operators say they're ready to handle the extra load that air conditioners and other cooling devices will put on electricity supplies during the heat wave.
Venture capitalists invested less money on green tech projects last quarter; they're hot on "internet-specific" companies. (Think businesses like Twitter or Spotify.) So if you’ve got an internet-specific green startup idea burning a hole in your laptop cover, now may be the time.
Apparently it's cool with Republicans if the government interferes with private businesses' decisions, if those decisions would mean being involved in the E.U.'s airline carbon trading program. -
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States can't be trusted to monitor their own drinking water
Lest you think we were getting all worked up for no reason, here is some evidence that states should not be left to their own devices when it comes to making sure our water is clean. A GAO report released yesterday found that states were underreporting or misreporting 84 percent of safe drinking water monitoring violations.
