Latest Articles

Green sector creates 50 percent of new jobs

…in Ireland. This is great news for the people of Ireland. But we need to create those jobs in the U.S. too. In Ireland, a country of four million, 10,000 “green” jobs were created in the last three months in organic farming, energy efficient construction, electric cars, and other green industries. With US GDP falling […]

Greenpeace: your boots are made for climate change

These boots are made for … trampling the rainforest? A lot of eco-minded folks these days generally know where their food comes from. They’d never walk into a supermarket and plunk an anonymous ribeye into their cart. They understand the tremendous greenhouse-gas footprint of beef; if they consume it at all, they do so sparingly, […]

How to deal with the climate bill

“Al Gore says support it. Paul Krugman says support it. Two Nobel Prize Winners. Who am I to question them?” That is a question received, in more than one space, when it comes to the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act. Well, with all due respect to the infallibility of a Nobel Prize […]

Heartland Institute terrified of Grist

Can I cover Heartland Institute events as media? It depends on who’s watching when I ask the question. Back in March 2008, the Heartland Institute held its “First International Conference on Climate Change” in New York City. Heartland is one of the leading oil industry-funded deniers of global warming. According to ExxonSecrets.org, it’s received $561,500 […]

Next steps for Waxman-Markey bill

The Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill cleared a major hurdle on May 21 when it was approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee. But the American Clean Energy Security Act of 2009 still has a long road to travel before it can be voted on by the full House. The House parliamentarian has referred the […]

With green home venture, Sierra Club mixes profits with passion

Photo illustration by Tom Twigg / GristIt’s not unusual these days for big green groups to get in bed with business, but one of the oldest and most-respected environmental organizations — the Sierra Club — is going them one better by getting into business itself. The San Francisco-based Sierra Club has launched a for-profit online […]

Ask Umbra on chippers

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Is it better to use a gas-spewing grinder/chipper to mulch up yard waste for plant beds or just burn it? I am thinking you will be tempted to say do neither and let it rot in place, but many don’t have a big enough yard to leave […]

Understanding offsets

As the struggle to pass the Waxman-Markey climate-energy bill showed, there is a certain price any political system is willing to bear for climate action. In China, that price is low. In the United States, it is medium. And in Europe, it is relatively high. But in every system, there exist two primary ways to […]

Cap-and-trade: filling up the political space that should be used for real solutions

One of the least discussed flaws in the Waxman-Markey bill’s attempt to tackle the climate crisis also illustrates the fundamental problem with cap-and-trade. The bill strips the EPA[1] of much of its existing authority to regulate greenhouse gases, in return for the new, weaker authority granted under Waxman-Markey. The existence of this authority is one […]

Fighting for the right to grow food in L.A.

South Central Farm activist Kati Lopez with armload of fresh corn leaves.Black Valley FilmsJust how much trouble can one community garden start? For starters, three years of court proceedings, two eviction notices, one assault charge, countless allegations of corruption, and $16 million worth of fundraising. Even with all the legal crap, the gardeners still had […]