Introducing carbon taxes instead of the currently struggling European cap-and-trade (ETS) system would be a good idea. Let’s hope the Italians mean it, and that this enthusiasm will survive the upcoming elections. Italy’s environment minister, Corrado Clini recently said he would propose a…

Solar power has been a booming business recently, thanks in part to fast declining costs, but more importantly governments that sprinkled it with lavish subsidies. And the curious thing was that the governments that could afford it the least were among the most generous. In 2011, almost a third of…