Latest Articles

The West in flames: Get used to it

Look at the fires that have raged this year in Colorado and New Mexico, and you're seeing not a "perfect storm" of temporary conditions, but evidence of the new normal in the American West.

When disaster strikes, Twitter might save us

Scientists mine social media, email, and other communication data to prepare for hurricanes, heat waves, and other natural disasters.

Today in coal: Americans hate it, India hates it, Siberia hates it

You hate it. I hate it. We all hate it for ... ice ... cream. (Oops, that didn't work.)

Mr. Romney thinks we should give big oil companies another $3.8 billion a year in tax breaks

Romney is giving oil executives a good reason to vote for him. (Making, by our count, 465,361 such reasons.)

Senate Republicans introduce same-old energy legislation, give it funny name

If it seems like you've seen these proposals before, you have. And they kind of admit it.

The biggest news story of our dystopian future

Ruben Bolling’s latest “Tom the Dancing Bug” strip envisions the newsreel of a climate-changed future. Here’s a teaser: The rest is after the jump (click to embiggen).

Welcome to Grist’s new home page

We just pulled the (biodegradable) wrap off our new home page design here at Grist. Come on in! Tell us what you think.

Here is everything people have written about sustainability at the Olympics

In no particular order, and, despite the headline, certainly not everything: The Olympic Games’ official sustainability site! How organizers plan to make the Games green! The top six green buildings at the Olympics! How the Games precipitated a green building boom! A U.N. guy, giving the London Games props! Action Sustainability, taking said props away! […]

Black Lung: Coal’s Dirty Politics

Reading and listening to the recent NPR, Center for Public Integrity, and Charleston Gazette articles about the rise in black lung cases for coal miners saddens and angers me. Like many, I had — mistakenly, it turns out — assumed that black lung was declining, thanks to the efforts of leaders like West Virginia Senator […]

What to expect when you’re expecting more drought (black widows!)

Bugs, expensive food, ruined highways. The future is not looking great.