Latest Articles
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A website I guarantee you will waste time on and quote, although I’m not sure to what end
Capitol Words “lets you see what are the most popular words spoken by lawmakers on the House and Senate floor.” It uses the Congressional Record to give “you an at-a-glance view of which issues lawmakers address on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis,” by “Congress as a whole, by state delegation or by specific […]
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Climate justice and coal’s funeral procession
Joshua Kahn Russell, the grassroots actions manager at Rainforest Action Network and a lead organizer of March’s Capitol Climate Action in Washington, DC, has written a great assessment of the climate justice movement and its emerging goals. Looking back at the historic protest at the Capitol Power Plant, which ultimately forced congressional leaders to come […]
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Sludge, farmer’s friend or toxic slime?
Should what we put down our sewers ultimately wind up back on our plates?Marc Samsom via Flickr Urine, feces, menstrual blood, hair, fingernails, vomit, dead skin cells. Industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, soaps, shampoos, solvents, pesticides, household cleansers, hospital waste. Sewage sludge, the viscous brown gunk left over when wastewater is treated, is more than just poop: […]
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‘Ice People’ is packed with plenty of ice, not so many people
Antarctica is warming rapidly, climate scientists report, upsetting fragile ecosystems and threatening the world with a significant rise in sea-levels. With the largely uninhabited and frozen continent melting before humanity’s very eyes, what better time to roll out a new documentary about the coldest, driest and windiest place on Earth. Billed as a journey to […]
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Think Before You Eat, Agriculture and the Environment
Farmers claim to be stewards of the environment, some would say it’s best friend; others, its worst enemy. The truth is we can be both. Humans have never left a small footprint, we have always tried to shape the environment to suit our needs. Initially farming had one purpose, food; farming provided a more stable […]
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Regulating biosolids
Biosolids are regulated under what’s known colloquially (to those who speak colloquially about sewage) as the 503 Sludge Rule, which came into effect in 1993. Technically titled “40 CFR 503 — Standards for the Use and Disposal of Sewage Sludge,” it’s complicated enough that EPA came out with a “Plain English” guide to help make […]
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Wolf delisting takes effect today
Photo: Thomas Roche via Flicker Wolf-people, give a howl for your lupine brethren, who lose federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in much of the northern Rocky Mountains and upper Midwest today. The Obama administration, in one of its least popular moves with environmentalists, upheld a Bush era decision that gray wolves have returned […]
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Heritage Foundation pushes ‘completely untrue’ attack on clean-energy jobs with a panel
The Heritage Foundation held a panel [today] titled “Busting the Myth of Green Jobs” to show that the experience of Spain is “more a cautionary tale than a blueprint for success.” Instead of showcasing the views of unbiased academics and economists, the Heritage Foundation put forth a panel of individuals financially connected to ExxonMobil. Conservatives […]
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Toles on global warming projections
There he goes again — making that link between global warming and extreme weather that the climate deniers hate (see “Why do the deniers try to shout down any talk of a link between climate change and extreme weather?“).
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Energy efficiency vs. neoliberal economics
I spent last week immersed in the views of professionals working to advance energy efficiency resource intelligence. I shall spare you more details — I realize there’s a limit to the wonkery even Grist’s audience can tolerate — but I do want highlight what strikes me as a key takeaway. A few facts to set […]
