Latest Articles

The gobsmackingly gargantuan challenge of shifting to clean energy

If I were king, I’d make everyone in America set aside time to watch the first hour of this video. It will change the way you think. Since I’m just a blogger, I expect most people won’t, so beneath, I’ve extracted some of the key slides from Saul Griffith’s extraordinary presentation, to give a clear […]

Dear Obamas: Let’s move … on food policy reform

Gardening is great, but food policy reform is even better.Photo: The White HouseMichelle Obama recently celebrated the first anniversary of her Let’s Move campaign to inspire healthier eating. But as the popular face of the Obama administration’s advocacy for healthy, nutritious food, the first lady has conveniently side-stepped several critical consumer food issues like organics, genetically […]

Memo to Fox News: Science and Politics Don’t Mix

Former oil and energy trader Eric Bolling, a financial news personality on Fox News, often gets on television to talk about climate change. On Tuesday, Media Matters published research on Bolling’s program and uncovered a history of claims that are demonstrably false: Bolling Hosted Skeptic To Claim “There Is No Global Warming.” Bolling hosted Brian […]

Adorable reindeer die to teach you a lesson about sustainability [COMIC]

Stuart McMillen’s comic “St. Matthew Island” is a parable about population control, resource scarcity, sustainability, and biodiversity, with bonus cute reindeer. Here’s the short version: The reindeer of this tiny Bering Strait island weren’t native, but were brought in by the U.S. military. Left to their own devices, they thrived, then competed for dwindling resources, […]

Use your smartphone to become a ‘citizen scientist’ with Project Noah

We all know people who seem to spend more time gazing into their smartphones than they do looking at the reality in front of them. But one app is trying to reverse the trend, and make your iPhone (or Android) into a tool that encourages you to dial into the biodiversity around you. It’s called […]

Still drinking diet soda? Don’t be a fashion victim!

Skinny Diet Pepsi: the latest fashion faux pas.At the just-launched Fashion Week in Manhattan, supermodels won’t just be sashaying down runways in mind-boggling frocks. They’ll also be accessorized with a new invention from Pepsi Co. — the “skinny can,” pictured at right, which (according to a press release) will “make its debut” in the cool […]

Tell Grist: What’s your favorite green hot spot in Portland?

You know you love it.Photo: megaulYo Portlandia! We’re compiling a guide to the perfect green Portland weekend and we need your help! So you have an out-of-town visitor — where do you take ’em for great local food or beer? What’s the can’t-miss farmers market, bike shop, or organic cupcakery — or is the octopus […]

Care about population? About women? Then you should care that GOP is taking aim at family planning

Deficit-peacock Republicans in the House don’t want to make any cuts at all to the budgets of the Pentagon or the Department of Homeland Security, but they’re delighted to completely eliminate funding for a family-planning program that serves low-income Americans. No matter that the move would actually increase long-term costs to taxpayers. The House Appropriations […]

Are we in a ‘clean energy race’ with China?

A popular line among climate hawks these days goes something like this: If the U.S. doesn’t support domestic clean energy, China will beat us in the clean energy race. The message has become quite popular lately, and indeed Obama said something very like it in his State of the Union, what with the “Sputnik Moment” […]

The people have spoken: let the EPA do its job

Cross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Yesterday, members of Rep. Fred Upton’s (R-Mich.) House Energy and Commerce Committee held their first hearing on Chair Upton’s proposal to block the Environmental Protection Agency from updating Clean Air Act safeguards to protect our health from life-threatening carbon pollution. (Hat tip and bow to EPA chief Lisa […]