Latest Articles

Confused Chris Christie embraces climate science, rejects climate action

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: The threat is real, and we should do less to fight it.Photo: Chuck WalkerThis post was cowritten by Stephen Lacey. Christie: “In the past I’ve always said that climate change is real and it’s impacting our state. There’s undeniable data that CO2 levels and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere […]

Mark Zuckerberg kills his meat with his bare hands

You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but Mark Zuckerberg is gunning to be the new Ted Nugent. The Facebook founder/Übernerd/kabillionaire is now only eating meat he slaughters himself. At least, that’s what he claims his status update reading “I just killed a pig and a goat” means, and issues or no, he doesn't […]

Obama administration overseeing explosion in renewables on public land

The Bush administration issued more than 40,000 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands, but approved zero solar projects (even though they received 300 applications). In contrast, in 2010 alone the Bureau of Land Management approved 9 solar projects representing 3,682 megawatts of electric power, reports Climate Central. Why the difference? According to […]

Greener cars and fuel mean fewer deaths tied to vehicle emissions

Cars idling in traffic lead to more than 2,200 premature deaths each year, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health. But lower vehicle emissions and cleaner fuels have been driving down that number for past decade, and the number of deaths will continue to decrease until about 2025, the study […]

Rick Santorum, the Only Consistently Anti-Environmental Candidate

Rick Santorum announced yesterday that next week, in a Western Pennsylvania coal field, he’ll announce he is running for President. The leaked announcement seems to have heavily emphasized the coal field angle, since several major outlets mentioned it prominently. On Twitter, Bill Scher asked a compelling question: “Can he win by tarring Mitt, Newt, Tim, […]

Critical List: Christie ditches climate initiative; France opens huge solar farm

New Jersey governor Chris Christie has jumped ship from a regional greenhouse gas program, because "it's a failure." The owners of the Fukushima nuclear plant provided regulators with only a one-page memo on its tsunami and earthquake preparedness. One page. A decade ago. In Japan, the country that invented the word “tsunami.” Green tech companies […]

Ten more great walking cities [SLIDESHOW]

A few months back, we published a slideshow on the world’s top 10 walking cities, as determined by a vote of Lonely Planet readers. Some of you, dear friends of Grist, thought that list omitted some gems. So let’s have another round of great walking cities — this time, from your nominations.

Change in season: Why salt doesn’t deserve its bad rap

A good pinch of this won’t do you any harm.For something that’s so often mixed with anti-caking agents, salt takes a lot of lumps in the American imagination. Like fat, people tend to think of it as an unnecessary additive — something to be avoided by seeking out processed foods that are “free” of it. […]

Even the Swiss hate nuclear now

In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, it seems nobody can stay neutral on nuclear power, not even Switzerland. The country has abandoned plans for new nuclear reactors, and while the five existing reactors will be allowed to keep operating, they won't be replaced. Nuclear in Switzerland will be entirely phased out by 2034, and […]

How commuting can ruin your marriage

At least in Sweden, people who have a long-distance commute are 40 percent more likely to separate or divorce. That’s the finding of Erika Sandow, a Swedish social geographer who studied more than two million partnered commuters for her dissertation work. Sandow acknowledges that there are career benefits to long commutes — people who are […]