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California solar has a sunny week

A rendering of the future Ivanpah solar plant. Photo: BrightSource EnergyIt’s only Tuesday but two milestones have been reached this week in the long march toward a carbon-free future. On Monday, BrightSource Energy became the first solar power plant developer to complete the financing of a large-scale project in two decades. The United States Department […]

Buy green sex toys, help support Grist

You can’t get pregnant, or get anyone else pregnant, by playing with yourself — good to note in this year of 7 billion. That’s why Grist loves vibrators. We recommend you pick up a green one — or three. If you like to combine your sex toys with potentially pregnancy-inducing activities, we recommend you pick […]

The China-Europe-America Smackdown

America, it could be worse. We could be Europe. I mean, we’re still mostly in the race with China – – in the past five years, they improved energy efficiency by nearly 20% and have a new five-year plan for another 20%. I say big deal – – the Empire State Building recently completed an […]

What stayed in the budget bill?

The EPA dodged Republican attempts to hobble it this week– the continuing resolution on the budget bill is going forward without the riders that would forbid the agency to regulate greenhouse gases. But environmental protections still took some hits. What environmental insults have hung on in the continuing resolution? Interior blocked from enacting a “wildlands […]

Walk this way: How to get a crosswalk on your street

Too many American streets and roads are missing something.Photo: Nicholas_TCreating an environment where people can get across the street without being killed by a driver should be a top priority for the people who design our streets and roads, don’t you think? Sad to say, it isn’t always so. You only have to take a […]

Fukushima raised to Level 7 nuclear disaster — how much should you panic?

The nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has leveled up to a 7, or “major accident,” topping out the International Nuclear and Radiation Event scale. That puts it in the same category as Chernobyl, the only other level 7 event in history. Does this mean it's time for us all to put on our […]

Protecting our oceans, one supermarket at a time

Last month, a group of Greenpeace volunteers in Denver trekked to over 30 Colorado supermarkets to investigate the sustainability of the seafood being sold inside. Armed with an “endangered fish check-list,” what they found–a thousand miles away from the nearest ocean–was shocking. In the freezers, wet cases, and can aisles they discovered nearly every species […]

Google goes all in on solar — to the tune of $168 million

Google has saved you from getting lost, running out of email storage space, and not knowing trivial facts about 90s TV shows. And now it’s going to help save you from a dystopian Mad Max future by investing in solar energy. The company just bet $168 million on solar tech, in the form of the […]

Smart planning for the global family

Spreading the message in Malawi.When it comes to population growth, the United Nations has three primary projections. The medium projection, the one most commonly used, has world population reaching 9.2 billion by 2050. The high one reaches 10.5 billion. The low projection, which assumes that the world will quickly move below replacement-level fertility, has population […]

Students are leading the way in moving beyond coal

Penn State students successfully moved their campus off coal.Photo: Sierra ClubNationwide, young people are working to move their college campuses and communities beyond coal to clean energy solutions — and they are winning. In the past few weeks we’ve seen three colleges decide to move beyond coal on their campuses, showing yet again that students […]