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Two Stories of Disease: Smallpox and Polio
Smallpox plagued humanity for thousands of years. In the 18th century, smallpox killed one out of every ten children in France and Sweden. Over the 20th century, the virus caused between 300 and 500 million deaths worldwide. No effective treatment was ever developed. The eradication of this devastating disease is one of public health’s greatest […]
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Conversations You WON'T Overhear
As summer gives grudging way to our back-to-work lives, busy execs will likely compare notes at Chamber of Commerce luncheons about the economy and job creation. We can all imagine those conversations, given recent market and political news, but here are a few you won’t be likely to overhear. Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon/Mobil: Hey […]
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Could California Save 30 Percent or More on Solar Power?
This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. The Golden State has covered over 50,000 roofs with solar PV in the past decade, but could it also save 30% or more on its current solar costs? Renewable energy guru Paul Gipe wrote up a […]
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Odd sounds from the new editor's office
When I first hung out my shingle as a freelance writer, I tacked a postcard over my desk. It showed a picture of the earth from space against a black background and a quotation from the pioneering naturalist John Muir: "When we try to pick out something b
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Meet Scott Rosenberg, Grist's new executive editor
We're excited that Scott Rosenberg is joining Grist. He's a co-founder of Salon.com, founder of MediaBugs.org, and pioneer in online community-building.
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Asphalt to Ecosystems
Say you were abducted by aliens, flown around the galaxy, then finally dropped off in what appears to be an American town. There’s not a soul about. What kind of place is this? Are you among friends or are there going to be more of those ‘probes’? Then you notice a school. You walk closer. […]
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Friday music blogging: Lloyd, with Andre 3000
I love when a good single drifts across my radar, and this new one from Lloyd (otherwise a pretty standard R&B crooner) is a gem.
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Tar Sands Protest is like the War on Drugs
What I am about to say may be considered blasphemy: I think the tar sands protests are misguided and will not (should not) achieve their stated goal. Before you grab your sustainably harvested bamboo pitchforks, I should say that I want the protests and arrests to continue, because there could be a much greater win, […]
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First Ozone Standards, Now This?
I woke up this morning wondering if my ears had deceived me. I didn’t remember hearing anything in Obama’s speech last night about clean energy investments or clean energy jobs. So I looked up the transcript and went through it. It turns out Obama did say something along these lines. One thing, one part […]
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The World Bank Still Can't Quit Dirty Coal
This column was co-written by Justin Guay of the Sierra Club International Program. As the New York Times recently reported, coal plants don’t come dirtier than the Soviet-era relics currently in operation in Kosovo. Despite the terrible pollution these plants spew, the World Bank has decided the only option for this young country is to […]
