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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 […]

Are flesh-eating robots the future of green tech?

Sure, you can get power from the sun and the wind and other things you could paint on the wall of a child’s bedroom — if you don’t mind being a hippy. But aren’t there any forms of alternative energy that are more, you know, metal? Enter James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau, British designers who […]

Moving from coal to clean energy

Who needs coal when there are such great examples of clean energy initiatives around the U.S.? I’ve got several examples for you this week. First, let’s head to coal central: West Virginia. There are some new solar panels appearing in Morgantown: A group devoted to creating alternative energy jobs in Central Appalachia is building a […]

Keeping farm animals alive in a freezing Nebraska winter

Don’t let the Arctic look fool you — Thistle Root Farm is a beehive of activity. Photo: Steph LarsenSparkling snow blankets a dormant pasture, and a red barn stands out starkly against a sea of white. Winter is a beautiful season on the prairie. Everything looks quiet and peaceful, but there’s still a lot of […]

Industry voices support EPA action on Clean Air Act

EPA standards can help business and drive innovation.Cross-posted from the World Resources Institute. This piece is written by senior associate James Bradbury. In the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, I moderated a panel featuring representatives from businesses and public interest organizations: Paul Allen, senior vice president for corporate affairs and chief environmental officer at Constellation Energy, […]