Latest Articles
-
RIO+20: Toward a new green economy — or a green-washed old economy?
I’ve got good news and bad news about the future of the planet. Good news first. Next year, a honking big global Earth Summit is coming our way — one with a proud heritage. Formally titled the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, the meeting is known as RIO+20 because it will come 20 years […]
-
More Fukushima workers hospitalized — what’s next?
Two more Fukushima workers were hospitalized today after being exposed to radioactive material — it seeped into their boots while they were working. Thirty-two are already in the hospital. And with 300 workers still at the site, there's potential for a lot more injuries. What's the worst-case scenario? Well, the situation at Fukushima is not […]
-
California going to sh*t — for green electricity
This is an opportunity we want to go down the drain.Recession-wracked California is truly going down the toilet. For green energy, that is. In a gift to headline writers everywhere, the California Energy Commission on Wednesday handed out nearly $1 million to fund an experimental project to convert what it politely refers to as “biosolids” […]
-
Fearless Leader Has Idea
Dear Grist Nation, Perhaps you saw our saucy little preview of the refurbished Grist.org last week. If not, surprise! Do you now find us hotter and more irresistible than ever before? We hope so. Our new homepage makes it easier to get your eyeballs on our juicy journalism, astute advice, newsy nuggets, and hot-off-the-press posts […]
-
The Climate Post: Trace radiation isn’t the only global fallout from Fukushima
As Japan’s nuclear disaster stretched into its second week, traces of radiation from the stricken power plants showed up in several U.S. states, and as far away as Iceland. With the reactors and uranium fuel rods still proving difficult to bring under control, the disaster could be the “death knell” for nuclear power, some analysts said. Countries around the […]
-
Arctic sea ice extent “tied for the lowest in the satellite record”
On March 7, 2011, Arctic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.64 million square kilometers (5.65 million square miles). The maximum extent was 1.2 million square kilometers (463,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average of 15.86 million square kilometers (6.12 million square miles), and equal (within 0.1%) to […]
-
Congress is making ignoring science a habit
In a recent House Energy and Commerce Committee climate hearing, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) jokingly asked if some of his fellow colleagues were going to overturn the law of gravity, “sending us floating about the room.” It seems funny until you realize that it’s in response to a disturbing trend in Congress of misusing, manipulating, […]
-
How women rode the bicycle into the future [SLIDESHOW]
“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel.” — Susan B. Anthony, 1896How important was the bicycle in changing the role of women in […]
-
Only bulldozers and bison can save Detroit now
Aren’t these preferable to a statue of robocop?Photo: Cathleen ShattuckThe latest U.S. census reveals that not even Detroit natives are that into the Motor City anymore. The once-flourishing city saw the biggest population drop in 10 years — 25 percent — of any city ever, except for the special case of post-Katrina New Orleans. Civic-minded […]
-
Oil company ‘fesses up, feigns surprise about spill
Well, now we know the source of the renewed oil assault on Louisiana's shores. Oil company Anglo-Suisse Offshore Partners has admitted that it had a "minor leak" while plugging a disused oil well. In some kind of Chanukah miracle, the five gallons of crude they admit to spilling turned into a 30-mile-long wash of oil […]
