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November 22, 2024
 

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Liam Denning
A gas station damaged by Hurricane Helene in Perry, Florida, on Sept. 27. Extreme weather and climate change are exposing the flaws in how we handle hazardous waste.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 3, 2024
Toxic waste is at the mercy of climate change
Among Hurricane Helene’s roster of disasters is a storm surge that deluged a retired nuclear power plant in Florida. While radioactive material there remains secure, according to operator Duke Energy, one of the plant’s industrial wastewater ponds overflowed amid the flood. With luck, any resulting...
California has ambitious climate policies. But the state should shift more green energy-related costs from electricity bills to taxes to promote fairness and sustainability.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2024
California's crushing power bills challenge its climate goals
California is incredible, but making it livable, what with its droughts, floods, fault-lines and wildfires, has never been cheap.
Storage tanks at the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project controlled by oil companies Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies in Norway. The Norwegian government is funding 80% of the initial investment for the state-of-the-art facility.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2024
A giant carbon dump gives glimpse into net-zero future
As the cost of renewables declines at pace with fossil fuel use, the need for carbon, capture and storage tech will diminish, making cost reductions a challenge.
As mind-numbingly big as the clean-energy price tag may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024
$215 trillion to save the planet is a bargain
And as mind-numbingly big as $215 trillion may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
This video screen grab shows a refinery in Ryazan, Russia, that Ukraine attacked in a drone strike last month.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2024
Ukraine’s drone attacks light a fuse under global oil supplies
At least 10 refineries have been hit so far. About 13% of Russia’s capacity has been knocked offline, analysts at RBC Capital Markets estimate.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a presidential permit for energy development that he signed during a tour of an oil rig in Midland, Texas, in July 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2024
How the planet could survive another Trump term
In his first term, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, rolled back environmental regulations, unleashed gas drilling and more.
Graphite, now deemed an essential mineral by the U.S., is the single biggest ingredient by weight in the batteries that go into electric vehicles and the power grid. It is also used in a variety of defense applications.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2023
Biden deploys Pentagon to beat climate change and China
A $37.5 million grant to Graphite One acts as a relaxed form of venture capital as the White House supports nascent parts of the domestic cleantech supply chain.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2023
What Exxon won’t tell you about climate costs
Society might be willing to make sacrifices if it meant avoiding even worse damage from global warming.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2023
What fracking can tell us about the future of fusion
Energy breakthroughs such as with fusion usually come through refinements of existing technologies and processes, not blinding flashes of transformation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2022
Nuclear power has one last chance to flourish in the U.S.
Climate urgency, energy security concerns and government support make this a make-or-break moment for U.S. atomic energy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2022
Midterms move climate battle beyond Washington
With the U.S. Federal government headed for gridlock, the fate of energy legislation lies with the states.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2022
Putin’s Ukraine war forces ugly bargains on food and fuel
The war in Ukraine has laid bare the world's addiction to freely flowing fuel and grain. Disrupted supplies and surging prices will force the have-nots into desperate choices.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2022
Elon Musk isn’t the only one to blame for the Twitter mess
From Larry Ellison to Marc Andreesen, Tesla CEO Elon Musk doesn't have backers on Twitter deal as much as well-heeled enablers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2022
The Republican climate plan forgets about the climate
The GOP is flashing just enough green to woo voters in vulnerable Democratic House districts.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2021
Gasoline at $3 a gallon isn’t as painful as it used to be
November's year-over-year price increase is the sharpest in monthly data going back to the early 1990s.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2021
Energy’s year of recovery more like a remission
Until news of the COVID-19 vaccine broke, energy had been the worst performing sector in 2020, falling by more than half.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2021
Tesla killed it on Bitcoin (and also sells cars)
You may recall Tesla only got into the Bitcoin game the very same quarter, announcing it would also start accepting the stuff for car payments.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2021
Elon Musk’s other, not-so-secret battery could help Texas
With the right chemistry and configuration, batteries can send power to the grid rapidly — which is relevant in light of February's debacle.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2021
The Tesla-Bitcoin singularity is here at last
The casual reference to Tesla taking Bitcoin as payment down the road is like digital catnip, helping to boost the value of that $1.5 billion bet.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2020
Exxon's activist uses weapons provided by Exxon
The fact the activist led with this straightforward jab speaks to the difficulty inherent to landing the other punch: namely, getting Exxon to look beyond oil and gas.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’
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