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Energy boss Steven Chu misses his bike
I’m a fierce carbon tax advocate, as Grist readers know. But what most upset me about the interview with Stephen Chu in last Sunday’s New York Times magazine wasn’t the energy secretary’s disavowal of an Obama carbon tax: Q: Many environmentalists believe that a permanent carbon tax would be the most efficient means of spurring […]
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From a zingy spring herb, a soup for sipping on the porch
Leaves of sassbeckyannisonGardeners and gastronomes fawn over sorrel — and almost everyone else ignores it. That’s a shame. An early-spring green with brash lemony flavor that comes from an abundance of oxalic acid, sorrel is a powerful addition to soups and sauces, and tasty in salads when picked young. The herb is classified in the […]
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As biz leaders call for a climate bill, Republicans claim it would kill the economy
Though corporate leaders from across the country came to the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday asking representatives to put a cap on carbon, leading Republicans on the committee held firm in their contention that mandating emission reductions would be catastrophic for the nation’s economy. The first full day of hearings on the proposed […]
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We screwed Earth Day — get over it
Another Earth Day has come and gone. In most cities, the green, biodegradable streamers have come down, and the free eco-swag already has been shoved under the bed. What now? Terry Hart via FlickrWell, if you’ve been hanging around Grist lately, you would know that that’s the question we’ve been asking all along. What now? […]
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The Goldman Prize: True tales of bravery
The 2009 winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize. Standing, L-R: Yuyun Ismawati, Olga Speranskaya, Wanze Eduards, and Maria Gunnoe. Front row, L-R: Rizwana Hasan, Marc Ona Essangui, and Hugo Jabini By rights it should be a daunting moment. Every fall a courier turns up at my door with a package containing a thick, densely typed […]
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A plan to jumpstart the global economy, defuse terrorism, and restore America’s world standing
America has lost its stature as a moral leader in today’s world. The global financial system continues to unravel with devastating consequences. The escalating threat of terrorism, driven by persistent inequity between the world’s rich and poor, seems immune to military solutions. The global climate stands at the threshold of runaway changes. What […]
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McCain rails against Obama cap-and-trade plan
Sen. John McCain says he’s still a proud proponent of using a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, but he’s not going to back President Barack Obama’s climate agenda any time soon. McCain, coauthor of multiple cap-and-trade bills in the past, addressed an energy symposium sponsored by the Reform Institute on Tuesday. In his remarks, […]
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Obama marks Earth Day with visit to Iowa wind energy factory
President Barack Obama made an Earth Day visit to Newton, Iowa, on Wednesday, where he toured a manufacturing facility that produces towers for wind turbines and touted his climate and energy agenda. Trinity Structural Towers, housed in a former Maytag appliance factory, employs dozens of former Maytag workers. “The choice we face is not between […]
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Coal the culprit in rising emissions intensity
I wrote last week about a curious fact: even though total CO2 emissions from the US electric power sector have dropped during the recession, the emissions intensity of the US power supply — that is, the amount of carbon per megawatt hour produced — actually inched upwards. The decline in total emissions is good news […]
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Let's make this Earth Day about cooperating
Cross posted at the NDN blog. Forty years have passed since John McConnell, a peace activist and plastics pioneer, proposed the first Earth Day at a Unesco conference in San Francisco as a way to focus attention on our role as stewards of the planet. In that period, environmentalism has grown into a worldwide passion […]
