Latest Articles

Do coal companies put profit over human life?

All coal mining safety laws have been written in miners’ blood. My grandfather, who barely survived an explosion in a coal mine in southern Illinois, taught me this phrase. He also taught me about the 150-year-old battle in the coalfields over reckless production at the cost of responsible safety measures. As our prayers and condolences […]

The Seattle project

Courtesy Michael @ NW Lens via FlickrOn a wintery, gusty morning last Saturday, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn rode his bicycle down from his north-side home to a downtown architecture and design firm for a rather unmayoral event. Some 60 or 70 people had gathered for a daylong “unconference,” a loosely organized bring-your-own-lunch affair, to plot […]

Can a book on geoengineering change the climate conversation?

Editor’s note: We are very pleased to welcome author Jeff Goodell, who will be blogging for Grist while on tour with his new book, How to Cool the Planet: Geoengineering and the Audacious Quest to Fix Earth’s Climate. For a writer, publishing a book is like letting an animal out of a cage — you […]

Massey’s mine in Montcoal has been cited for over 3,000 violations, over $2.2 million in fines

Cross-posted from Think Progress. Massey Energy is actively contesting millions of dollars of fines for safety violations at its West Virginia coal mine where disaster struck yesterday afternoon. Twenty-five miners were killed and another four are missing after a explosion took place at 3 pm Monday at Massey subsidiary Performance Coal Co.’s Upper Big Branch […]

A teacher openly crusades for better school food–and gets seared

Colorado teacher Mendy Heaps: dangerous lunchroom radical–or fruit-cart-pushing concerned citizen? Mendy Heaps, a stellar English teacher for years, had never given much thought to the food her seventh-graders were eating. Then her husband, after years of eating junk food, was diagnosed with cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure and suddenly the french fries, pizza, and ice cream being […]

Ask Umbra’s Book Club: Does your job own you?

Dearest readers, How did you like our first book club selection, Dolly Freed’s Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money? I thoroughly enjoyed it—aside from some mild retching at the thought of removing a turtle’s gallbladder (a necessary step for a proper snapper soup)—and came away feeling amused, […]

We need birth control, not geoengineering

I’ve written about my choice not to have children.  What’s all too easy to forget is that many women still don’t have any reasonable choice about their fertility. An estimated 200 million women around the world don’t have access to family-planning tools.  If they did, 52 million unwanted pregnancies could be averted every year, according […]

Abandoning Congress is not a winning strategy for climate activists

Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Senators drafting comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation are negotiating with polluters, and talking about combining a cap on carbon with public incentives for nuclear plants, “clean coal,” and offshore drilling. Should supporters of strong, progressive action to solve the climate crisis give up on Congress and work within the […]

A movement far larger than the Tea Party

As an antidote to news of the oil spill on the Great Barrier Reef, here’s Paul Hawken giving last May’s commencement address at Portland University. From the entrepreneur, author, and ideas guy: There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode […]

Sustainable urban farming ideas that think inside the box

Photo via .hello foto of FlickrIn my last Green State column, I wrote about Agriculture 2.0. The conference, held in Silicon Valley recently, brought together venture capitalists and sustainable ag startups in an effort to jump start a market for the regional distribution of fresh food. This week I take a closer look at some […]