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Gore should get up in this thing

Grist’s nonprofit status obviously means we can’t endorse any presidential candidate, and I doubt I’ll personally decide whom to support until much closer to the election. But one thing I will say is that — for all the reasons aptly described in Tim Dickinson’s new Rolling Stone piece — Al should run. Run, Al. Run. […]

U.S. schools get schooled on sustainability

Remember how report card time at school brought a mix of emotions — excitement, anxiety, a little bit of vomit in your mouth? Oh, to be a student again. But last week, the tables were turned as 100 universities across the country were graded in a College Sustainability Report Card released by the Sustainable Endowments […]

Jeremy Piven gets caught out

I admit it -- the vestigial high school girl in me loves celebrity gossip. Still, I can't help but cringe in sympathy every time the tabloids metaphorically draw and quarter some poor, stylistically challenged starlet for mismatching her bag and shoes or stepping out of her house in sweat pants on a Sunday morning. I happen to be a major fan of sweat pants on Sunday mornings. In fact, if I had the eff-you fortitude to walk down to my local coffee shop in pajama bottoms, I would.

Ethyl alcohol dulls the imagination

What explains The Economist's fascination with ethanol? In this week's issue, Britain's leading current-affairs magazine has published an extended article on "Green America: Waking up and catching up." Although most of the article actually talks about other energy sources besides ethanol, and about state-level efforts to encourage energy conservation and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the photo editors chose to illustrate it with pictures of ethanol, ethanol, ethanol.

No, not that

Talking about climate change, that is. More evidence that it's the hot political topic of the moment -- even the muckety-mucks at Davos are all abuzz over greenhouse gas emissions:

Let’s put bison back on the praries

Every once in a while, a pearl tossed to the swine (we Gristmill commenters) by a fellow Sus scrofa domestica (that's for you, Canis) sticks in my ear. Blame this one on amazingdrx. He mentioned that a concerted effort to restore our prairies could sequester underground much of our carbon without any new technology or the warming effect of temperate tree plantings.

Harvesting a mix of prairie grasses to displace coal in a power plant is many times more efficient and ecologically benign than converting it to liquid fuel, and would tie in nicely with the URGE2 concept. I'm not licking boots here. URGE2 is a powerful idea.

Pew report shows Americans poised to take global climate crisis seriously

The State of the Union address may be just a lot of talk. But considering that each word in these national speeches is painstakingly choreographed, a small phrase for a president can be a giant step for mankind.

That's why, when Bush uttered the words "global climate change" before a TV audience of 45.5 million, I nearly jumped out of my seat. He said it! He said it for the first time in any of his seven State of the Union addresses.

This is huge. Especially in light of the results from a Pew Research Center poll on global warming that was released Wednesday. Even those few words, when spoken by Bush, may signal a tipping point for Americans who remain on the fence about the reality of climate change and what can be done about it.

Check out these numbers:

Yeah, yeah, it’s not about the celebrities. Only it is.

I spent most of my time in Utah almost seeing stars. Hung out with a biofuels enthusiast that Ed Begley Jr. had hung out with the day before. Rode in a car that chauffeured Bradley Whitford the previous two days. Touched a poster that Justin Timberlake would touch just the next day. Sigh. An update […]

The music video

OK, it won't win any Oscars or snag a screening at Sundance, but this little clip only asks for three minutes of your time:

Nice Perc if You Can Get It

California to phase out toxic dry-cleaning chemical Continuing its quest to show the rest of the country up, California has notched another first: the state’s Air Resources Board has voted unanimously to phase out perchloroethylene, or perc, a toxic chemical commonly used in dry cleaning. Some 3,400 California cleaners who use the solvent — a […]