Latest Articles

Is Michelle Obama about to take on Big Food?

With all the talk of Michael Pollan and Jamie Oliver lately, it’s easy to ignore the person who right now is, given her current address, the most influential voice on food policy in the country. Naturally, I’m talking about First Lady Michelle Obama. While she’s been exercising what diplomats would call her “soft power” for […]

Bring seeds to the coalfields: Vote for this clean energy project

Want to take on Big Coal with a couple clicks on your keyboard? A fantastic new project, SEEDS — Sustainable Energy and Economic Diversification program — is taking root in the Coal River Valley of West Virginia, at ground zero in the mountaintop removal mining and coalfield uprising, and it needs your Grist-reading help: If […]

U.S. headed for massive decline in carbon emissions

For years now, many members of Congress have insisted that cutting carbon emissions was difficult, if not impossible. It is not. During the two years since 2007, carbon emissions have dropped 9 percent. While part of this drop is from the recession, part of it is also from efficiency gains and from replacing coal with […]

New air conditioning and furnace standards mean big savings

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other efficiency groups released a negotiated agreement with manufacturers of residential air conditioners and furnaces yesterday, marking the end of a journey to come to consensus that lasted many months.  I negotiated on NRDC’s behalf and we will now take this agreement to both Congress and the Department […]

What Bill McKibben learned from the gay rights march

Courtesy half.apple via FlickrIf the mainstream media is going to largely ignore a mass demonstration on the national mall—such as Sunday’s National Equality March for gay rights—public demonstrations might as well be small, numerous, and spread all over, says 350.org founder Bill McKibben. Also, they should be beautiful. McKibben—writer, Grist board member, and an occasional […]

Should DOJ investigate Big Coal bedlam?

UPDATE: Every American–including the Army Corps of Engineers–must watch this powerful new 20-minute film by Chad Stevens on the real costs and consequences of mountaintop removal mining: Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining Now, the good news: On behalf of their children’s future, coalfield residents and miners calmly came together in the Coal […]

Paging Dr. Chu, venture capitalist

Silicon Valley is by nature an optimistic place. After all, inventing the carbon-free future and making boatloads of money along the way is fun. And even though California is slouching toward apocalyptic collapse these days, there’s always another innovation wave to ride. In Chu We Trust? It may take big bucks from the U.S. Dept. […]

Stewart Brand’s nuclear enthusiasm falls short on facts and logic

Supporting technical details and citations for this post can be found here: “Four Nuclear Myths” (PDF). Whole Earth Discipline, by Stewart Brand (Viking, 2009)I have known Stewart Brand as a friend for many years. I have admired his original and iconoclastic work, which has had significant impact. In his new book, Whole Earth Discipline: an […]

What Gourmet’s critics missed

Hard times aren’t always the worst times for magazines. In 1941, with the economy still depressed and the nation on the verge of war, a magazine called Gourmet hatched. In the years since, Gourmet sprouted into the nation’s most celebrated and influential glossy food magazine. But this week–in the wake of another Great Crash and […]

The U.S. military’s battle to wean itself off oil

Don’t ask what kind of mileage it gets.In the summer of 2006, Marine Corps Major General Richard Zilmer sent the Pentagon an unusual “Priority 1” request for emergency battlefield supplies. Stationed at a temporary base in Fallujah, Zilmer was commanding a force of 30,000 troops responsible for protecting Al Anbar, the vast territory in western […]