Latest Articles

Critical List: Durban is over; Rick Perry is an idiot

The Durban round of COP talks ended over the weekend with a "platform" that outlines how work towards a new climate treaty will progress over the next few years. But that's really not good enough. Rick Perry thinks the company called Solyndra is a country called Solynda. That's in Africa, right? It's easier to find […]

The top green and Gristy stories of 2011

Sharing systems are all the rage Can less consumption be more fun? Yes, when it’s social. The “collaborative consumption” trend didn’t start this year (the Zipcar car-sharing service launched way back in 2000), but the sharing movement has blossomed big-time. Airbnb, which lets you rent your home to travelers, made the biggest splash in 2011. […]

Sea change: Asian Americans and seafood in the gulf [Part 2]

This is the second half of a feature story from Hyphen Magazine’s Survival Issue. Read the first part here. Recipe: South Vietnamese Bitter Melon This is the kind of dish we have only at home, never in restaurants: Mix shrimp paste, sugar, red pepper and lots of lime juice into a sauce. Shave raw bitter […]

Lights, camera, activism: Filming the story of environmentalism

This OnEarth story was written by Bruce Barcott. In a creaky wood-floor office overlooking San Francisco Bay, the documentary filmmaker Mark Kitchell removes his glasses, runs his hand through his hair, and glares at a computer screen filled with thumbnail images of film clips. Kitchell, 59, is in the throes of a dilemma. He’s spent […]

The frog and the polar bear: The real reasons Americans aren’t buying climate change

As international leaders trek home from Durban, South Africa, after a week of plotting the world’s response to global warming, the debate rages here at home — over whether Americans even care. The New York Times ran a story in October headlined, “Where did global warming go?” that cited polls suggesting that Americans had lost […]

Ask Umbra: How can I de-stink secondhand clothes?

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I strive to reduce/reuse/recycle, but as someone who is sensitive to chemicals, purchasing used clothing presents problems. Sometimes soaking the clothes in borax or vinegar, and washing as much as a dozen times (in less toxic, unscented detergent) fails to remove the ferocious stink of the previous […]

2C or not 2C: That is the question about the Durban deal

Also: Rommgelina doesn’t have the same ring.Photo: Ammar Abd Rabbo Cross-posted from Climate Progress. We don’t get to marry Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie. We’re not going to be as successful as Oprah Winfrey or Steve Jobs. So we generally grade ourselves on the basis of what we think was plausibly achievable, not what is theoretically […]

Is climate change hitting the world’s coral reef epicenter?

Joanne Wilson surveying coral reefs in Raja Ampat Cross-posted from Cool Green Science. You’ve probably heard about coral bleaching — the mass die-off of coral reefs because of warming sea temperatures, a dynamic that can be attributed at least indirectly to climate change. It’s a problem of growing concern to the hundreds of millions of people […]

Group purchase gets residential solar to grid parity in Los Angeles

This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Back for a second round, the Open Neighborhoods organization in Los Angeles has organized another group purchase of residential and commercial solar PV, bringing the lifetime cost of solar well under the cost of grid electricity […]

Occupy COP 17: Portraits from the movement

The Occupy movement grips people from all over the world. At COP 17 in Durban, South Africa, it appeared in the form of general assemblies held outside the sanctioned conference to discuss alternative solutions for the Earth’s collapsing systems. We spent some time speaking with participants to learn why they occupied Durban, and what motivates […]