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Growing Goat Herds Signal Global Grassland Decline

After the earth was created, soil formed slowly over geological time from the weathering of rocks. It began to support early plant life, which protected and enriched it until it became the topsoil that sustains the diversity of plants and animals we know today. Now the world’s ever-growing herds of cattle, sheep, and goats are […]

Much ado about nothing

There was plenty of excitement earlier this month when AEP – one of the nation’s largest energy companies – announced that it would phase out five coal-fired power plants and clean up several others. Here at the Sierra Club, we took the opportunity to call attention to this latest victory in the nationwide effort to […]

The Afghan Price

Earlier this year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke about discovering that truckloads of single-use plastic shopping bags imported into his war-torn nation were squandering precious resources of fuel while risking the lives of truck drivers as they passed through insurgent held territories. Recognizing the true cost of wasting scarce resources in a place with so […]

Top five coolest ways to integrate renewable energy into the grid

Here's 5 methods for integrating renewable energy into the grid -- proving that intermittency isn't the showstopper critics make it out to be.

German rooftop solar price *averages* less than $4 per watt

This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Earlier this spring I shared a graphic illustrating the dramatic fall in distributed solar PV prices in Germany, down to $4.11 per Watt installed, for rooftop systems under 100 kilowatts.  As it turns out, the graphic was […]

Tim DeChristopher chats with Ask Umbra

Climate activist Tim DeChristopher will take questions from Grist readers today at 3 pm EDT in a live chat -- just days before his federal sentencing.

A Powerful March on Blair Mountain

“There will come a time, I know, when people will take delight in one another, when each will be a star to the other, and when each will listen to his fellow as to music. The free people will walk upon the earth, people great in their freedom. They will walk with open hearts, and […]

Where are US Global Warming Emissions Headed?

As I meet with global warming officials from other countries, I frequently hear this statement: “American action on global warming is lost for the foreseeable future.”  This is a good time to evaluate how true or false this statement is since the US Energy Information Administration  (EIA) has just released its annual projections – the […]

Companies like Mattel are still pushing Sumatran tigers to the brink

Mattel’s paper purchasing polices are weaker than Ken’s plastic handshake. Poor Barbie. She’s survived fifty years of bad outfits, sudden beheadings at the hands of younger brothers and the wrath of feminists everywhere. Underneath that fixed smile is a steely determination that has pushed this character to the front of American popular culture and kept […]

Electric Car Purchase Update

Just got an email from Nissan:   Hi Russ, congratulations! Your vehicle is scheduled to arrive at your Nissan Dealer in the month of September 2011.   As your Nissan LEAFTM is being built and shipped, we will continue to update your vehicle’s status. So make sure to sign in to “my account” to stay […]