Latest Articles

Why Car Drivers with a Clue Support Bicycle Infrastructure

Photo courtesy of therozblog via Flickr Imagine what it would feel like to accidentally maim, cripple for life, or kill a bicyclist (daughter, wife, mom, son, husband, dad, teenager or kid) with your car, regardless of who got the traffic ticket. On top of that guilt, imagine the potential for an emotionally and financially devastating […]

The Great Brain Robbery and the Seattle Pee Patch

The neighborhood dogs use my daughter’s vegetable garden as a communal toilet. You can’t blame them really. The garden is right next to the sidewalk and they are just dogs. I suppose you could blame the dog owners holding the leash. But, are my dog-walking neighbors really that obtuse or are they victims of the […]

Nissan Leaf, meet Ford Pinto

There were two interesting cars parked on my street this week. One was a Nissan Leaf (see my test drive video here). The other was a Ford Pinto. The Pinto was one of the forerunners of today’s small hatchbacks. It had bucket seats with a hand brake between them, a back seat that folded down, […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]