Latest Articles

Ask Umbra on Babeland’s boinking for bucks

Birds do it. Bees do it. You know what I’m buzzing about. And as long as you’re doing it, why not do it for Grist? For the entire month of April, Babeland will be donating 20 percent of sales of all their eco-friendly sex toys to Grist. You might remember this video about breaking up […]

Ask Umbra’s pearls of wisdom on spring cleaning

Dearest readers, Ah, spring is on the calendar and in the air. Birds are singing, bees are buzzing, flowers are making me sneeze—or perhaps it’s this dust that’s been building up all winter. Time for the annual washing, scrubbing, wiping, sweeping, and general expunging of stuff known as spring cleaning. I scoured the archives for […]

How much renewable juice does it take to power an Apple iPad?

With Apple fans’ fingers itching for the newest glossy touchscreen machine to hit the market this Saturday — the legendary iPad — it only makes sense to ask how the latest gee-whiz gizmo will impact the environment. Even with ten to twelve hours of battery time, they’ll have to recharge the wunder gadget sometime. So […]

McDonald’s responds to April Fools’ story (via Twitter)

It looks like McDonald’s has a Big Mac–sized sense of humor. The official McDonald’s Twitter account responded to readers’ questions about our April Fools’ Day report saying that McDonald’s is scrapping a composting plan because its food won’t decompose. While some people didn’t realize it was fake news, McDonald’s did, and responded to a tweet […]

Obama’s mountaintop-removal crackdown could mean more than offshore drilling

Offshore drilling, auto-efficiency standards, water-heater regs, green jobs for strippers … there’s a ton going on this week. But today’s big news is a lot brighter than yesterday’s offshore drilling hubbub: the Obama administration announced sweeping new regulations for mountaintop removal, the coal-mining method that tends to (a) remove mountaintops, (b) fill mountain valleys with […]

The Climate Post: Read this. Read now. Pay nothing.

First things first: The Obama administration today finalized greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and light trucks first proposed last May. The practical upshot of the rules is a roughly 40 percent rise in fuel economy, to 35.5 miles per gallon, by 2016. The government said the measures would save owners about $3,000 in fuel […]

Rachel Maddow takes on denial-funding Koch Industries

Rachel Maddow takes a look at Koch Industries, the private conglomerate that pumps more money into climate-denial campaigns than Exxon Mobil does: [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.1012185&w=425&h=350&fv=launch%3D36126598%26width%3D400%26height%3D320]

The future of freezing

Cross-posted from Climate Central. In many parts of the U.S. March went out like a lion this year. But a new interactive map of high-resolution climate projections from Climate Central promises much tamer, warmer Marches in the future. In fact, freezing March temperatures will retreat northward this century like a routed army. (The retreat would […]

How to Annoy PETA and Monsanto, Part 2 of our Interview with Food, Inc Director (VIDEO)

Robert Kenner may have annoyed Monsanto and the others in the food industry, but you may be surprised why PETA hates him. Kenner discusses who’s attacking him now in this interview with Planet Forward. How do you reduce food’s carbon footprint? The production, transportation and sale of food requires millions of barrels of oil and […]

Appalachians hail EPA’s great victory for Clean Water Act and justice

Earlier this morning, I wrote a piece for April Fool’s Day, Obama Ends 150-Year War of Strip-Mining in 24 States: Mountaintop Removal Loses Its Groove. Well, turns out the second part wasn’t an April Fool’s joke after all. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson invoked the rule of science and law today — and for the first […]