Latest Articles
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Republicans cockblock NOAA appointment because of an oil-drilling snit
You’d think that the main criterion for being named the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s chief scientist would be that you are a scientist. (Lesser criteria: being plausibly chiefly; studying some field related to oceanic and/or atmospheric science.) Turns out, though, that being a scientist can be a real liability for the chief scientist job, […]
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New toilet paper is recycled and brown, and that’s not QUITE as gross as it sounds
So if you were going to make a recycled toilet paper, would you make a huge deal about it being brown? Is that really the color that will evoke the most pleasant images when paired with the phrase “recycled toilet paper”? Is anyone even driving this marketing campaign?
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Obama doesn’t back down on clean energy
During the State of the Union, I was watching for whether the president would back down on clean energy in the face of coordinated GOP assault. He did not. Instead, he doubled down.
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Schoolkids want The Lorax to be more tree-huggy
As Dave Roberts pointed out when the trailer was released, the upcoming Lorax movie is an insult to all that’s good and holy. The original Seuss tale is bleak, sure, but bleak with a purpose: it’s a parable about greed, exploitation, and the consequences of environmental rapaciousness. It does not feature the Polyphonic Spree. Well, […]
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How enhanced geothermal power works, courtesy Taiwanese animators
Taiwanese animation studio NMA News explains, visually, how one key to our energy future works.
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Geoengineering could boost crop production, says study
Adding tiny, sunlight-blocking particles to the upper atmosphere -- a.k.a. the “artificial volcano” approach to geoengineering -- could help crops avoid the effects of global warming.
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Ex-employee says BP fired him for trying to clean up oil
In November 2011, BP fired an employee named August Walter, who had been working on clean-up of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Now, Wilson says the company fired him because he wouldn’t help gloss over its clean-up shortcuts. He’s suing BP in federal court. BP and the Coast Guard are working on the clean-up […]
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Climate change danger: Arsenic in the water supply
Droughts, climate change, and resource-intensive dairy farming have joined forces to make Mexico’s Laguna Region, once well-stocked with ponds, into a semi-arid semi-wasteland. Oh, and the drinking water is full of arsenic and it’s giving everyone cancer. Is this the most cheerful post we’ve ever written? Maybe!
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How two guys turned recycled coffee grounds into a gourmet mushroom empire
Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez were recent grads who were supposed to go into investment banking, but they became obsessed with the idea that mushrooms could be grown in old coffee grounds.
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What did Obama say about energy last night?
We at Grist List know more or less how your State of the Union experience went last night: You intended to watch it, but oooooh, you forgot there was a new Downton Abbey episode you hadn’t watched yet. You started watching the speech, but booooooring! You changed the channel/zoned out/got distracted by YouTube. Or you […]