Latest Articles

Without affordable clean alternatives, South Africa turns to coal

South Africa’s finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, has an op ed in the Washington Post that illustrates the multi-faceted challenges facing developing nations as they struggle to provide the affordable access to modern energy needed to pull citizens out of poverty. The piece highlights the current tension between such objectives and simultaneous concerns about the environmental […]

Love your mother: Vote for Grist’s MILF video in the Telly Awards

Remember last year when Grist said, Screw Earth Day? (What with every day being Earth Day, yadda yadda yadda.) Well, our fine and funny MILF video celebrating, er, loving your mother the right and wrong way, has been nominated for a Telly Award, which honors the “very best in video, film, and commercials.” Thanks, Telly, […]

Tapping the power of energy efficiency

One of the fastest-growing states in the nation has the potential to save its residents billions of dollars over the next decade and a half and create thousands of new jobs to boot. How? By adopting several common-sense policies to save energy and investing more in clean-energy research. So concludes a new report focused on […]

Glenn Beck’s survival guide: Food and energy independence

Thinking I’d catch some of the conservative side-show after health care passed, I moseyed over to Glenn Beck’s website to find out when the healthpocalypse will destroy “our” America. But I found something even more shocking. More evidence for Beck’s closet treehugging is coming to the surface. Colbert slammed Beck a few weeks ago for […]

Designed to Obstruct, US Senate Erodes Public Trust

Last time, I illustrated how the un-democracy of the US Senate hogties the Pacific Northwest. It radically underrepresents the most-populous, diverse, and innovative parts of the country, making it exceedingly difficult for the nation to adapt to the demands of a radically new global era by, for example, adopting sweeping new approaches to energy and […]

Meet a young farmer leading a greenhorn ‘guerilla’ movement

Severine von Tscharner Fleming, farmer and director of the film The Greenhorns. Severine von Tscharner Fleming is the director of the forthcoming film The Greenhorns and founder of the crucial new young farmer organization of the same name. Here’s her no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners perspective on the young farmers movement. Make no mistake, this woman is dedicated […]

Murky future for Clean Water Act restoration

Now that health insurance reform has passed Congress, is it finally time to restore the health of America’s waters? I know what you’re thinking — the Clean Water Act already protects the nation’s waters, right? That we learned our lesson and cleaned up our water act after the Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969? Wrong. […]

Permission to take a worry break, enjoy the health-care victory

Without getting all pundit-y, can I suggest that it wouldn’t hurt progressives to celebrate more? Others have done a better job than I can explaining what a big deal health-care reform is. I’ll just add: if you need a break from fretting about climate change, or ocean acidification, or agribusiness and school lunches, or the […]

The JetLev indulges your wettest dreams of low-carbon flying

Are your arms tired of holding up frequent-flyer guilt? Don’t like the hassle of gassing up a personal blimp? Doubtful about the pie-in-the-sky eco-claims of recreational space tourism? Same here. That’s why we’re on cloud nine over the launch of JetLev, which allows you to fly by the seat of your wetsuit with the ease […]

No rest for the warriors.

Today President Obama signed health care reform into law. This is an incredible victory not just for the President and members of Congress who championed the legislation; not just for the movement of people and organizations who advocated for change; not just for the millions of Americans who will soon have affordable health coverage when […]