Carbon Emissions

With cleaner air and energy self-sufficiency high on America's list of priorities, our irrational dislike of nuclear power looks increasingly imprudent. China, France and the U.K. have raced ahead safely on nuclear power: It's well past time for the U.S. to start catching up.

It has become clear to politicians and scientists that corn-based ethanol isn't the solution for creating a home-grown fuel source. Enter "cellulosic ethanol," made from wood chips, weeds or algae. Could it be the fuel of the future?

A natural gas boom is coming in the U.S, but while consumers are likely to benefit from the cheap energy source, investors may not. Huge new discoveries of domestic reserves may keep prices down, and the political push toward renewable energy sources could cut into producers' profits.

As California voters wait to find out whether they've suspended a major global-warming law, which requires the state to scale back carbon emissions 25% to 1990 levels by 2020, New Mexico on Tuesday passed its own measure to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions -- but it only takes effect if other states follow suit.

Republicans can be friendly to solar energy -- just don't use the terms "recovery act" or "stimulus package" when lobbying them for government subsidies. That was the message from GOP political adviser Mary Matalin at the largest solar conference in the country on Thursday.

A controversial project to scrub and store carbon dioxide from a coal-fired power plant in Illinois gets $1 billion from the federal government.

With Honda's president saying the company had "no future" if it didn't make vehicles that emitted less carbon dioxide, the Japanese carmaker is now gearing up to join Toyota, GM and Nissan in the electric-car and plug-in hybrid derby.

As Earth Day turns 40, the stream of new and innovative ways to curb carbon emissions and (hopefully) reverse global warming seems never-ending these days. But which environmental technologies are affordable and advanced enough to hold the most promise?

The industry is poised for yet another revolution, triggered by ExxonMobil's $41 billion purchase of XTO. It's a clear sign that future growth in extractive energy will come from sources other than oil -- such as natural gas. Expect other oil majors to follow suit.

The eyes of the world are turned to Copenhagen and the pivotal environmental summit taking place in that quaint, lovely Scandinavian city. The task faced there by the leaders of the world is simple to articulate: Save the planet from the carbon menace and all the ills associated with the curse of...