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Don't worry, Stephen Colbert, your school lunch potatoes are safe

The risk that potatoes might be restricted in school lunches sent Stephen Colbert into a twitching, shouting anxiety spiral. But all is well, Stephen -- your tater tots will remain unmolested! The Senate voted down a measure that would have limited starchy vegetables to one cup per student per week. ("Starchy vegetables" includes corn. Just saying.)

Heat from cities barely affects global warming

One of the many arguments that deniers rely on to pooh-pooh climate change is the prevalence of the “urban heat island” effect, i.e. the tendency for cities to absorb and retain heat. The problem’s not gas-belching cars and factories, it’s all those city-dwelling lefties! But according to a new study from Stanford University, there's just no possible way that cities are causing global warming, at least not on the same scale that greenhouse-gas emissions are.

At most 4 percent of "gross global warming since the Industrial Revolution" can be traced back to urban heat island, the study found. Greenhouse gases are responsible for 79 percent. So, if you live in a city, don't sweat it! If you've commuted for 1.5 hours in a car for the past two decades, maybe sweat it.

The study also contained some bad news about white roofs.

Haute cuisine gone green: James Beard Foundation focuses on sustainability

Do the James Beard Foundation's new sustainability awards signal a change for the better in the culinary world, a new form of food greenwashing, or something in between?

Occupy Catan

Let's not forget the importance of land use and resource allocation.

Tell us how to Occupy Grist

Occupy Wall Street could be the first step towards a saner, smarter future -- and Grist is there with you to help make sense of it.

Are Americans more worried about population than climate change?

A recent poll found 29 percent of Americans listing "overpopulation" as a major environmental challenge, while just 27 percent named global warming.

Australians to kill camels for carbon credits

Australians really don't like the hundreds of thousands of feral camels that run around the continent, so every once in a while the government decides to spend money on sending guys with guns up in helicopters to cull their numbers. But now they have a utilitarian justification for the culls: They're fighting climate change.

Like cows, camels spew methane from their digestives systems. By cutting their lives short, one company argues, Australia would be preventing the release of the methane the camels would emit over their remaining years. The company, Northwest Carbon, also says it'll be able to offer carbon credits for the reduction in emissions.

E-waste idea: Turn an iMac into an aquarium

The iMac was built to be pretty. So why not sidestep the difficulty of recycling e-waste by making discarded iMac carapaces into something attractive for the home? Jake Harms had the clever idea to make them into aquariums, for "Mac and fish enthusiasts worldwide." The cases for his pre-made iMacquariums are sourced from recyclers, so you're not […]

Shark massacre reported off of Colombian coast

Off the coast of Colombia, as many as 2,000 sharks in a wildlife sanctuary have been massacred, says the Colombian government. A team of divers first alerted the government to the killings, according to the Guardian:

[The divers] saw a large number of fishing trawlers entering the zone illegally," [environmental minister Sandra] Bessudo said. The divers counted a total of 10 fishing boats, which all were flying the Costa Rican flag. 

Can we turn mining pits into underground cities?

Architect Matthew Fromboluti designed this inverted skyscraper to make use of abandoned open-pit mining operations in Bisbee, Ariz. The 900-foot underground building (maybe we should call it a mantle-scraper?) wouldn't just be for residences -- it would comprise an entire self-sufficient subterranean city, including crops fed by skylights.