Latest Articles

“Why Nukes are [not] the Most Urgent Environmental Threat”

Environmentalists: Wake up! There is a greater and more urgent threat to the climate than even global warming: the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Uhh, no. As someone who spent a lot of time working on issues related to the threat posed by nuclear weapons — I was actually a Congressional science fellow two decades […]

Climate activist Tim DeChristopher goes to trial in Salt Lake City [VIDEO]

Climate activist Tim DeChristopher’s trial began Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah. He spoke with Grist recently about facing jail time, his fears, and how to make a difference through nonviolent direct action. Here’s the exclusive video interview: Monday morning, Terry Tempest Williams, Daryl Hannah, and other allies rallied to show their support. Peter Yarrow […]

Now on Facebook: your grandma, mailman, and … the solar industry

You just got poked by the sun.Photo: diogo dubiellaYou have a new friend request … from the sun! OK, it’s actually from a company selling solar panels. “Solar service providers … are increasingly turning to social media tactics in an attempt to create engaged communities around the sunny clean power,” says Earth2Tech. Solar startups are […]

Pittsburgh’s drinking water is radioactive, thanks to fracking. Only question is, how much?

The drinking water of tens of millions of Pennsylvanians is threatened by natural-gas fracking — including the 2.3 million who live in Pittsburgh.Photo: Via Tsuji Residents of Pittsburgh — as well as potentially tens of millions of other everyday citizens in the Northeast corridor who rely on their taps to deliver safe water — are […]

NY Times on natural gas fracking:

The New York Times has a multi-bombshell piece on natural gas fracking, “Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers.”  CP has done a great many pieces on the potential benefits of  fracking — and the potential dangers (see “Getting to the bottom of natural gas fracking and links below). But while unconventional natural […]

Colin Firth’s wife wins Best Lady in a Recycled Gown in our personal Oscars

Photo: Davidlohr BuesoGreen-minded folks in the know about celebrity stuff — i.e. not me — have been on tenterhooks waiting to see what Colin Firth’s wife Livia would wear to the Oscars. That’s because she’s attempting the Green Carpet Challenge again this year, and has sworn to wear nothing on the red carpet that isn’t […]

EPA lets natural gas industry brazenly pollute my state’s drinking water

That’s some fracked up sh*t: a natural gas rig does its thing in Dimock, Pa. Photo: Helen Slottje, via arimooreIn a perfect world, everyone would read The New York Times’ frankly terrifying exposé on the EPA’s rather timid oversight of the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania — and public outrage would force the EPA to […]

Will natural-gas fracking turn New York into a 21st century Appalachia?

How much is it worth to you to put up with contaminated drinking water?Photo: Helen SlottjeLet’s define “Appalachia” at the beginning: a place blessed with mountains above below-ground natural resources, but cursed with chronically high unemployment; a place where natural resources are not owned by the landowners; a place where extracting those natural resources poisons […]

If the GOP can’t destroy nature, they’ll at least make sure others can’t enjoy it

Photo: Rosa SayWhat happens if Republicans, frustrated by opposition to their spending bill amendments (some of which defang the EPA), decide to hold their collective breath until they get their way? Well, the government shuts down. That means a whole lot of government employees get an unwanted furlough (JOBS!). It could also spell disaster for […]

How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it)

This is the first column in a series focusing on the economics of bicycling. Imagine getting a $3,000 to $12,000 tax rebate this year. Now imagine it coming again and again. Every year it grows by around a thousand dollars. Imagine how this would change your daily life. Sounds like a teabagger’s wet dream, but […]