Latest Articles

This Halloween, have your pumpkin–and eat it, too

Try April’s White Bean and Pumpkin Chili recipe (below).Photo: April McGreger Halloween has pagan roots in the Celtic Samhain, a festival of the harvest and the dead.  The Celts saw the end of October as the “end of lightness” or the end of summer, and the “beginning of darkness,” or the long, cruel winter ahead. […]

Children and riot police face off in Canadian “Moms” video

The Canadian campaign Moms Against Climate Change just released a provocative video (below) that makes a boldly emotional appeal for action on global warming. Set in an unnamed city, the 86-second video “Demonstration” features a protest march comprised entirely of children. Riot police block the street, tap their shields and clubs ominously, and hold back […]

By the numbers — data highlights on poverty and population

In Chapter 7 of the recently released Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Lester Brown lays out the Plan B goals for eradicating poverty and stabilizing population. Behind the scenes are a number of datasets and graphs that delve deeper into the trends discussed in the chapter. Here are some highlights from the Chapter […]

Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)

Michael BennetSen. Michael Bennet sent this letter to Grist reader Matthew Ott in October, responding to questions about the senator’s stance on climate legislation. Bennet calls the House climate bill, which passed in June, “a significant step in the right direction,” and he sounds generally positive about the Kerry-Boxer climate bill that’s now being considered […]

Mark Udall (D-Colo.)

Mark UdallSen. Mark Udall is considered a likely “yes” vote for a climate bill in the Senate, though he wants to see more support for nuclear power and natural gas. In this letter to Grist reader Matthew Ott in Colorado, Udall doesn’t mention climate legislation specifically, but he calls for a strong renewable energy standard.  […]

It’s Getting Ha! in Here: Featuring David Cross

Comic and author David Cross kicks off Grist’s new comedy interview series, “It’s Getting Ha! in Here”! Check out his riffs on laughter saving the environment, how his fans can help planet earth and, of course, farting. And if that’s not enough, check out Cross’s new book I Drink for a Reason.

Save us, [insert techno-fix here], you’re our only hope!

Don’t worry about climate change and world hunger–this lady’s got your back!Watching SuperFreakonomics author Steve Levitt sitting next to Jon Stewart as they shook their heads in disbelief that everyone wasn’t on the climate change/geo-engineering bandwagon (It’s easy! it’s cheap! We know it works!) depressed me to no end. It seems like every challenge we […]

Six months after the outbreak, who’s investigating the CAFO-swine flu link?

Not hogging the H1N1 spotlight: A “state of the art” pig CAFO in Georgia.Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.“When respiratory viruses get into these confinement facilities, they have continual opportunity to replicate, mutate, reassort, and recombine into novel strains … The best surrogates we can find in the human population are prisons, military […]

Global climate pact may hinge on EU summit

Now the world really is coming to the crunch point. As governments across the globe travelled the long, winding and rocky road to Copenhagen over the last few years, there have been many times when the next stage, usually steep uphill, seemed absolutely crucial. But none has come close to the importance of the stretch […]

Weatherizing Portland

Clean Energy Works Portland is a groundbreaking new program that enables Portland residents to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and pay for the improvements over time through their utility bills. A contractor performing a blower door test to identify air infiltration and leakage throughout a home.Energy Trust of OregonBut the most exciting and […]