Latest Articles
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How wiring the developing world can help save the planet
Envaya helps people in Africa build ultralight websites, on the ultracheap.Like most equatorial countries, Tanzania is feeling the impacts of climate change. Malaria is spreading to areas at ever-higher altitudes. Lake Victoria, which feeds the Nile, is retreating. The rainy season is starting later and getting shorter — last year, the typically four-month season lasted […]
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Is MTV the best method of teen birth control?
Believe it or not, MTV appears to be inspiring teenagers to avoid pregnancy — yes, the very same network that glamorizes not just rap and rock ‘n’ roll but sex, drugs, and debauchery. In 2009, MTV launched the documentary series 16 and Pregnant, which shows the gritty reality of life as a young expectant parent. […]
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Organic farming just as productive as conventional, and better at building soil, Rodale finds
Organic agriculture is a fine luxury for the rich, but it could never feed the world as global population moves to 9 billion. That’s what a lot of powerful people — including the editors of The Economist — insist. But the truth could well be the opposite: It might be chemical-intensive agriculture that’s the frivolous […]
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Minn. state Rep. Mike Beard prepares to devastate Twin Cities transit, economy, residents
Rep. Mike Beard.Minnesota state Rep. Mike Beard (R) is famous among people who enjoy laughing at stupid things politicians say. A sampling: You may recall his argument against high-speed rail: “We already have highways.” His argument that coal mining hasn’t done any damage to the earth: “When we were done, we put it all back […]
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Forward-looking power utilities support EPA air toxics rule
As Grist readers know, EPA recently released its proposed Air Toxics Rule, which would regulate the emission of mercury and other brain-warping, lung-destroying nasties. We’re still in the public comment period, so the PR battle is in full swing. Republicans and dirty utilities have raised Cain over the rule, screeching that it will be too […]
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Crowd-sourced radiation maps put the hivemind to work for public health
Map: RTDN.org and Google Maps What if Foursquare were good for something? It might look a little like this. Crowd-sourced maps of radiation in Japan allow anyone with a radiation detector to log their reading, resulting in real-time information with potentially as many data points as there are users. RTDN.org, put together by Portland's Uncorked […]
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PG&E to let customers disable their smart meters — for a price
Over the past year, a revolt against the rollout of utility Pacific Gas & Electric’s smart meters has swept through Northern California as some customers claimed the devices’ wireless transmission of electricity data was harming their health. In response, city councils in a number of cities tried to ban their installation. On Thursday, PG&E, acting […]
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I raise pigs on annual pasture crops. Am I farming sustainably?
Bob Comis with his porkers. Will they leave the land more productive than they found it? Photo: Zach Phillips The concept of sustainability isn’t very useful as a critique of industrial agriculture — all you have to do is create a friendly definition of “sustainable,” and the critique is turned on its head. However, sustainability […]
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Giving clean energy developers cash works better than tax credits, stupid US policy notwithstanding
One of the great undercovered aspects of U.S. energy policy is the fact that most of it happens through the tax code. That’s one reason it’s so unbearably lame. Why do we do energy policy this way? There are many reasons, but a big one is that decades of conservative agitprop have made it almost […]
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Study: Organic chicken carries significantly lower salmonella risk
Want it free of drug-resistant salmonella? Make it organic.Photo: sierravalleygirlThis study from the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety came out in November and has bounced around the internet, but for some reason I’m just now noticing it. It’s worth a look. The researchers looked at broilers — chickens raised for meat — from […]
