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Everest climber dead at 88

Things I did not know about Sir Edmund Hillary: He was still alive. He was only 88 when he died. Which means when he became the first person to reach the top of Everest, he was just a year older than I am now. Better get cracking. He once won an honor from Queen Elizabeth […]

White House will save paper by putting federal budget online

Instead of printing 3,000 copies of its 2,200-page budget, the White House has elected to put the gigantic tome online. “This step will save nearly 20 tons of paper, or roughly 480 trees,” says White House Budget Director Jim Nussle, who estimates that bringing the budget presentation into the new millennium will save nearly a […]

Still time to vote for Gristmill in 2008 Weblog Awards

You didn’t know Gristmill was a candidate for something? Right, and I suppose next you’ll tell me that you were paying attention to some other voting thing-y going on. Well, chill. There’s still time to elect Gristmill as the Best Tropical Topical Blog in the 2008 Weblog Awards. But only until tomorrow night, Friday, Jan. […]

Use of “smart grid” technology could save U.S. $120 billion, study says

A yearlong study by the Department of Energy has concluded that when consumers are given the means to closely track and adjust their energy usage, power use declines by an average of 10 percent. In addition, the study found that households’ electricity usage during peak times fell by up to 15 percent. The study estimated […]

Coral reefs suffer from proximity to humans, says study

The main factor contributing to declines in coral-reef health is proximity to human populations, says new research in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. A study of 322 reef sites in the Caribbean found that many suffered significant damage from overfishing and agricultural runoff. Author Camilo Mora estimates that reefs in […]

Umbra on (inherited) fur coats

Oh advice maven on all things green, I have a problem! I live in a very cold climate (read: Great White North) and my mother recently gave me my grandmother’s old fur coat. It is the warmest thing I have ever owned, but can I wear it? It was a gift from my grandfather to […]

A new play with historical and environmental roots

If theater is your thing, here's a great short review of the new play The Boycott -- by Kathryn Blume -- that challenges assumptions about what environmental activism should look like. A humorous and serious one-woman show, it's a contemporary take on Aristophanes' comedy Lysistrata, in which women from Athens and Sparta refuse to sleep with their husbands until they stop the war. Blume's schedule brings the show to Alaska and Vermont this month, and New Hampshire and Missouri this spring.

Bush admin backs off appeal of nixed forest-management rules, to release new ones

The Bush administration has backed off of an appeal of a March 2007 ruling that overturned controversial management rules for national forests. The struck-down rules allowed national forest managers to approve logging, mining, cell-phone towers, and other commercial projects without undergoing environmental reviews and were found to violate the Endangered Species Act. The Bush administration […]

Vote for Gristmill in the 8th Annual Weblog Awards

This is for all you loyal readers out there who turn to Gristmill, day in and day out, for your recommended daily intake of leafy green commentary. Actually, this is a shameless plug for anyone who kinda sorta likes and/or reads Grist/Gristmill. Give a little bloggy love in return by nominating Grist’s own blog, Gristmill, […]

Amazing Race-ers awarded vague electric vehicle

I’m always excited when eco-prizes are handed out on Those Reality TV Shows That I Totally Do Not Watch. But Sunday night on The Amazing Race, I was surprised to hear that the first-place pit-stop finishers were awarded electric vehicles, and then confused by the way the prize was never fully explained and seemed veiled […]