Latest Articles

GOP puts party over planet, claims pollution is energy

Photo: Wonk RoomCross-posted from the Wonk Room. The habitability of our planet is threatened by fossil-fueled politicians who can’t tell the difference between pollution and energy. After a White House meeting on energy reform this morning, Republican senators rejected President Obama’s call for a price on carbon pollution, repeating the Newt Gingrich lie that it […]

‘The Climate War’ comes to California

Eric Pooley came to San Francisco last Tuesday to talk about his new book, The Climate War, at the offices of the Environmental Defense Fund. The book, subtitled “True Believers, Power Brokers and the Fight to Save the Earth,” is a riveting tale of the battle to pass climate change legislation in the United States. […]

Senate oil savings’ greatest hits

Is Congress moving us toward a fuel-efficient future? Plug-in hybrid electric cars could be the cars of tomorrow.Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory Oil, oil, everywhere, but not a drop for fuel. This is the stark view of Gulf Coast residents who see a 24,500 square mile oil slick menacing their shores. The devastating BP […]

FDA takes steps to limit use of antibiotics in livestock

Updated June 30 The FDA took a significant step yesterday toward restricting the routine feeding of subtherapeutic (medically unnecessary) doses of antibiotics to livestock. As Grist has detailed in previous coverage, this practice — which by some estimates consumes nearly 70% of all antibiotics administered in the U.S. —  has been linked to the rise […]

I Have a Green Job: A green fitness center that lets you supply the energy

From activists to politicians, everybody loves to talk about the promise of green jobs. But in reality, who the heck actually has a green job, and how do you get one? In our new column, “I Have a Green Job,” Grist will be regularly profiling one of the lucky employed who has landed a job […]

White House climate-bill meeting ends with a whimper

Photo: Cliff1066 via FlickrIt feels like we’re writing about the “very last chance for a climate bill in 2010” just about every week. Well, Tuesday morning’s White House meeting between President Obama and 23 senators was billed as yet one more last chance to breathe some life into the bill that the Senate can’t seem […]

Why eaters alone can’t transform the food system

Farmer Morse Pitts’ stall at the Greenmarket.(Windfall Farm blog)In the cover piece of the newest American Prospect, Heather Rogers skillfully makes a point I’ve been flogging for years: that public policy, not consumer choice, is the villain propping up the industrial food system and constraining the growth of organic farming. Rogers, author of the new […]

Remember when Republicans liked cap-and-trade?

It wasn’t so long ago that a number of Republican senators actually thought happy thoughts about cap-and-trade or carbon pricing — before they got on board with the official GOP talking points and started referring to any climate policy as a “job-killing national energy tax.” We were just kidding: Let’s have a flashback moment with […]

Saving a community garden in D.C.

I never thought I’d be involved in a fight to save a city park, but here I am. The Marines are progressing with plans to move and expand their facility in Washington, D.C. They are looking at one option of taking over Virginia Avenue Park where I happen to participate in a community garden. A […]

Clean energy: It’s not about the technology

Suppose two factories produce and sell identical widgets at $1 each. Now, suppose a law is passed to provide one of those factories with $9 of additional revenue per widget. Clearly, this is law will distort markets. The $10 widget manufacturer will attract more investors and it will lobby hard to preserve that law. Meanwhile, […]