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Renewable v. Renewable: Oregon wind and hydro fight over grid space

The Northwest coast right now has a problem most places in the country could only wish for: too much renewable energy. And while hippies would like us to believe that clean energy sources will work flawlessly in harmony to edge out coal and oil, this abundance is pitting wind producers and hydroelectric producers against each other.

Alongside the Columbia River, in Oregon, wind power is becoming a big player, working in concert with dams on the river to produce renewable energy. But right now the Bonneville Power Authority, which controls the dams, is ordering wind farms to generate less power, saying it needs more space than usual on the grid to handle the power the dams are producing.

Wind farms are, understandably, peeved.

Houses made of bacteria could save 800 million tons of CO2

What would the world be like if we could build houses out of bacteria? For starters, the story of the Three Little Pigs might have ended very differently. But biomanufactured bricks, made of a mixture of sand and non-pathogenic bacteria, could also help house people in developing countries while saving almost 800 million tons of CO2 every year.

Critical List: Floods herald largest Gulf dead zone on record; the Senate hearts ethanol

Louisiana fishermen can't catch a break. Flooding on the Mississippi River could create the largest dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico on record.

Louisiana, in general, can't catch a break. A plant that blends chemicals used in oilfields exploded on Tuesday.

The Senate decided against ending subsidies for corn-based ethanol in a vote that split, not just along party lines, but also between Big Ag states and everyone else.

Google's newest clean energy investment hands $280 million to a solar company that leases panels to customers.

Repairing our broken cities by transforming infrastructure

Can landscape architecture fix the blight created by outdated and destructive transportation infrastructure?

Tim DeChristopher chats with Ask Umbra

Climate activist Tim DeChristopher will take questions from Grist readers today at 3 pm EDT in a live chat -- just days before his federal sentencing.

Green jobs are real: U.S. solar employs more people than steel

People want to know: Are green jobs real? The answer is resoundingly "yes." With roughly 93,500 direct and indirect jobs, the American solar industry now employs about 20,000 more workers than the U.S. steel production sector.

Science connects climate change and wildfires. Why won't the media?

One of the least controversial impacts of climate change is more frequent, severe, damaging wildfires in America's West. Why won't reporters say so?

Memo to the White House: Closing coal plants is a good thing

Rather than running away from the closure of a coal plant, the White House should be throwing a big party every time a coal plant closes.

Utilities and Joe Barton: 'Ignore the science: Pollution isn't bad for you!'

Do you believe doctors, EPA scientists, and peer-reviewed studies when it comes to the danger of pollution? Or heavily polluting utilities and Joe Barton?

Eliminating soot would save 2.5 million lives a year, slow climate change

“Black carbon," the product of incomplete combustion of everything from wood to diesel fuel, isn’t just something you put on Mary Poppins chimney sweeps to make them look picturesque. It also contributes to climate change, and it will turn your lungs into something from an anti-smoking PSA faster than you can ask for just one more spoonful of sugar. The flip side is that we could save a lot of lives with just a little cleanup.