Eastman Kodak sold film. It made cameras to sell film. Silver-based film, preferably. Kodak’s advertising featured images but it didn’t sell images -- it sold film. Office copying machines came along. They made images, but they didn’t use film. After a while, they didn’t need special paper, either. Then came the digital camera; images without film or paper. Eastman Kodak adapted too slowly.

The dozen or so member companies of a group calling itself Coal 2.0 have been working collectively and individually on developing and promoting the use of coal-cleaning methods that can potentially improve the thermal efficiency of coal-fueled power plants while substantially reducing emissions. The members of Coal 2.0 are among the nearly 160 members of the American Coal Council, an organization comprised of companies representing all facets of the coal market.

Water is essential but continually taken for granted; few other industries make such a vital contribution to health and prosperity yet remain largely invisible.

Another chapter in the unending saga of raising money to fund leaky infrastructure opened in July, when an Oregonian member of Congress proposed a law to create a Water Trust Fund, “a federal funding mechanism along the lines of the highway trust fund.”

As Congress leaves Washington for its annual five-week summer break, there appears to be little likelihood of significant progress on cap-and-trade legislation in the current calendar year despite the continued assertions of Congressional Democratic leaders that they will get a bill passed this year.

With most of the state houses adjourned it is an opportune time to take account of the climate change and greenhouse gas laws that were successfully enacted at the state level in 2009. The states continue to take the leadership in enacting climate change policies and mandates for greenhouse gas reduction in the United States, and “raise the bar” for federal action as evidenced in this past legislative session.