Latest Articles

God Bless America

Like Native Americans in the nineteenth century, Imperial Oil must now see the Canada-U.S. border as something of a Medicine Line: On the American side, persecution; on the Canadian side, freedom. The irony, of course, is as grand as Imperial’s plan to transport hundreds of giant pieces of industrial equipment — most larger than the […]

Six Companies Earn Gigaton Awards for Climate Leadership

The Carbon War Room and the Gigaton Throwdown on Saturday announced the winners of the first annual Gigaton Prizes, a set of awards intended to inspire and challenge businesses to lead on climate change. The prizes were awarded to: NIKE for its energy savings program aimed at reducing its global greenhouse gas emissions; Reckitt Benckiser […]

The United States Needs to Lead on Climate Finance

This piece was co-written by Sean Sarah, National Press Desk, Alliance for Climate Protection. Today, the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Center for American Progress released a report, based on analysis by Climate Advisers and Project Catalyst, that provides a blueprint for how the United States can show leadership on climate finance, despite current […]

Ask Umbra on living holiday trees and other options

What?s the most sustainable sapling to celebrate with? Ask Umbra?s holiday primer on live trees, cut trees, fake trees, and more will settle the score

Jonathan Franzen on activism, compromises, overpopulation, and birds

In an exclusive interview with Grist, Jonathan Franzen talks about the environmental themes in his novel "Freedom," plus activism, population, & more.

Friday music blogging: Girl Talk

Girl Talk is DJ Greg Gillis, who has made a name mashing up beats, melody lines, and vocals from different songs into epic, album-length party sets. All told, the albums contain hundreds of samples, far more than any mere mortal could afford to license, so the results are ... less than legal. But great! The latest is called All Day.

The path to the U.N. climate summit in Cancun and the chances of success

Representatives from 194 countries gather this week in Cancun, for the 16th meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The real nitty-gritty on small farms and the food-safety bill

The Food Safety Modernization Act is back in play due to a procedural error, and facing renewed opposition from an unlikely quarter: small farms and food processors and the people who support them. Here, we drag our experts back for a detailed debate on who's exempt, under what circumstances, and what the FDA's agenda might be.

‘Drowning in Oil’ contest rules

  ‘Drowning in Oil’ Reader Contest Official Sweepstakes Rules and Regulations   NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.    Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules.  The McGraw-Hill book “Drowning in Oil” contest commences at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time on December 6, 2010 and ends at 11:59 […]

Ethanol is dead; all hail plant-based synthetic gasoline! [PODCAST]

In my latest podcast, I talk to Jim Thomas of ETC Group, my go-to source for cutting-edge information on the machinations of global agribusiness. He blew my mind on the topic of ethanol and the "new biomass economy."