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Critical List: Ozone fix is warming planet; weighing Thanksgiving’s environmental impact

To fix the ozone, manufacturers of fridges and other products replaced ozone-busting CFCs and HCFCs with HFCs. But now the U.N. is warning that HFCs do a number on the climate. In other words, the solution to the ozone problem could be creating a climate change problem. Oh, and no one thinks that the world […]

Food Studies: Thanksgiving marked the seasons in a post-seasonal world

Food Studies features the voices of volunteer student bloggers from a variety of different food- and agriculture-related programs at universities around the world. You can explore the full series here. In A still from The Miracle of the Can.The Miracle of the Can, a 1956 promotional video for the American Can Company, a husky-voiced narrator […]

Baltimore’s can-do approach to food justice

Beehives from Five Seed Farm and Apiary, one of the farms expected to begin production on Baltimore city land in 2012. Photo: Courtesy of Five Seed Farm and ApiaryCities all over the country are addressing the lack of access to fresh and healthy food on the part of their residents, but few are in as […]

Clash in Manhattan [SLIDESHOW]

Last Thursday morning, when protesters blocked an intersection in a failed attempt to shut down Wall Street, the police moved in with force. The national media paid scant attention. Here’s the view from the street.

Ask Umbra: Is it safe for Occupy groups to use wooden pallets?

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Our Occupy group is looking for information regarding the safety of using wooden pallets. They want to use them under tents, to help stay drier, and possibly to burn (for heat only, not for cooking). I found a Grist article on pallets from a few years ago, […]

House’s collaboration cart puts community planning on the street

Grist is proud to present the Change Gang — profiles of people who are leading change on the ground toward a more sustainable society and a greener planet. Some we’ve written about before; some are new to our pages. Some you’ll have heard of; most you probably won’t. Know someone we should add to the […]

Why are we eating bluefin tuna to extinction?

Photo: Tom PuchnerCross-posted from Gilt Taste. If you eat fish regularly, you’ve probably grown used to regularly being told by conservation groups — or that slightly irritating, politically correct friend — that certain fish shouldn’t be eaten: American Striped bass, Atlantic swordfish, Chilean sea bass, and Caspian sturgeon have all been the focus of vocal […]

Fracky Friday: Delay means victory for fracktivists in Delaware — for now

Residents of New York, Philadelphia, and neighboring areas can turn on their taps without worrying about the flammability of their water for at least a little while longer. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) made anti-fracking supporters happy this week when they announced the cancellation of a crucial Monday vote to approve fracking in Trenton, […]

Friday music blogging: Childish Gambino

Donald Glover is a stand-up comedian and a comedy writer (he’s written for Community, 30 Rock, and The Daily Show), but he’s probably best known as Troy Barnes, the genial, goofy friend-of-Abed on the show Community. Side note here: you can argue whether Community is the funniest show on television right now (my vote would […]

5 takeaways from the IPCC report on extreme weather and climate change

Flooding in Pakistan.Photo: N BCross-posted from World Resources Institute. The world must brace for more extreme weather. That is the clear message from a new report that finds climate change is likely to bring more record-breaking temperatures, heat waves, and heavy downpours. The much-anticipated Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters […]