Latest Articles
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Coal + CCS: not as expensive as other things!
If I told you that my cross-over dribble was better than Stephen Hawking’s, would you build an NBA franchise around me? If I told you I was better looking than Ernest Borgnine, would you pick me as the leading man for your movie? If I told you that my lifestyle makes Iggy Pop look like […]
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Jumping to conclusions in health matters may have adverse side effects
The past week, the Netiverse has erupted with stories linking the Granjas Carroll confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) near La Gloria, Vera Cruz, Mexico, with the outbreak of a strain of H1N1 influenza, commonly called “swine flu,” that has triggered concerns about possible flu pandemic reminiscent of the one that claimed tens of millions of […]
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EPA chief stumbles over need to prepare for global warming
In one of her first interviews with the national press since being named to office, Lisa Jackson, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, started well in her defense of the need for government action to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases. She pointed out to National Public Radio that corporate lobbyists have a […]
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No ‘renewable’ nukes and coal for Indiana
Indiana renewable package: No can do.Photo: JayskIndiana lawmakers finished their legislative session Wednesday without passing a renewable electricity standard, which might be just as well. This was the plan that would have defined “renewable” so as to include “clean coal” and nuclear energy (as reported earlier on Grist). The plan would have required utilities in […]
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CDC: swine flu strain has genetic roots in U.S.A.
(Another hat tip to the increasingly essential Tom Laskawy.) In an interview with Science Magazine, CDC chief virologist Ruben Donis essentially confirmed the reading of the current swine flu strain made by New Scientist: that it evolved from a strain that cropped up in U.S. hog farms in 1998. Both New Scientist and Donis emphasize […]
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Massive economic and policy reform: Easier than you think
It seems to me that we suffer from a failure of imagination. We dream of a low-carbon world, but can’t quite fathom how to get around the massive lobbying clout (and inertia) of the coal lobby. We dream of a world with no more utility obstacles to energy efficiency, but can’t imagine how to undo […]
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From Sadist to Satire
Photo: Elisabeth Buecher Guilt dripThese sadistic Puff & Flock (!) shower curtains slowly inflate with every water-wasting moment you spend bathing — because the suffocating guilt you feel just isn’t enough. (Click below to see the next item in this week’s Grist List — or view them all on a single page.) […]
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Smithfield is listening!
What’s that you say? Smithfield claims that they are awaiting the results of “additional” tests on the pigs at their Veracruz, Mexico, CAFO — the facility at the heart of speculation here on Grist and elsewhere as the source of the current swine flu outbreak — to determine if any pigs are infected. And just […]
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Insight in sight
I took this picture with my cell phone. It was in the parking lot of a private school. This is really good news. For years, kids were being dropped off here in $65,000 Toyota LandCruisers and every other kind of expensive car you can think of. Nowadays the relatively inexpensive Prius is the most common […]
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CDC chief confirms U.S. origin of flu strain
H/t to Fair Food Fight for this one. In a Q&A with ScienceInsider, the CDC’s chief virologist Ruben Donis confirms what Columbia researchers declared: the current H1N1 swine flu virus is “all swine” in origin, the human and avian components present in the current virus date to the 1998 swine flu outbreak, and that this […]
