Latest Articles

California’s high-speed rail gets $1 billion

California is going to have high-speed rail. Despite grumblings about the cost, Gov. Jerry Brown supports it, and now the project, which will link San Francisco and Los Angeles, is getting close to $1 billion from the Department of Transportation. The department came up with this chunk of change and more after other governors (Florida's […]

Critical List: Durban climate talks begin today; UK secretly supporting tar sands

This year's international climate negotiations begin today in Durban, South Africa. This round of talks is basically the opposite of Copenhagen: hopes for anything at all happening are very, very low. The British government has been supporting Canada's tar sands projects in secret. One new study found that the climate is less sensitive to carbon […]

Learning on the half-shell

Photo: Gwendolyn MeyerLuc Chamberland thinks oyster farming is often misunderstood. That’s why the aquaculturist wants to educate the public about the benefits of cultivating bivalves in Tomales Bay, a pristine estuary in West Marin, Calif. A recent, high-profile controversy surrounding a commercial oyster farm in the area has focused on the potentially negative environmental impacts […]

Can the Durban climate negotiations succeed?

Photo: DG EMPL Cross-posted from An Economic View of the Environment. Two weeks of international climate negotiations begin today in Durban, South Africa. These are the Seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP 17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) [PDF]. The key challenge at this point is to maintain the process […]

Ask Umbra: Are cosmetics companies lying to my face?

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, I just heard an ad for hair-care products that are allegedly “certified hypoallergenic.” There’s no such thing, is there? And is it illegal to make that claim? Shirley C. Wynnewood, Penn. A. Dearest Shirley, Hark! The holidays are here, and many of us might soon find ourselves […]

Julian Rodriguez-Drix: An organizer whose lectures ruffle feathers

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 […]

Signs of the times [SLIDESHOW]

How many ways are there to say, “It’s time for change”? The protesters in New York City over the past few months have found a seemingly endless variety. This is a movement that refuses to be boxed in and it doesn’t look like it’s going away soon.

Feed-in tariffs responsible for most renewable energy

Cross-posted from CleanTechnica. Feed-in tariffs are a comprehensive renewable energy policy responsible for 64 percent of the world’s wind power and almost 90 percent of the world’s solar power (see charts below). With simplified grid connections, long-term contracts, and attractive prices for development, that’s policy that works. Image: David Jacobs Image: David Jacobs The basic […]

After-school EV club is so much cooler than yearbook

In Kansas City, Mo., high school students enrolled in the after-school program Minddrive are building an electric car. They meet three times every two weeks. They started with a decade-old Reynard Champ Car, and have turned it into an electric vehicle that will drive from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Diego, Calif., over their spring break. […]

Prizewinning research: How to fight elephants with bees

British scientist Lucy King has won a prestigious environmental award for her research, but she should also maybe get a movie deal. The substance of her research is using bees to scare off elephants, which could make an excellent blockbuster, with the addition of a few explosions and maybe a robotic bee carapace. Also, as […]