Latest Articles

EPA clears waterboarding for Appalachia

As American citizens in Mingo County and other areas of the flood-stricken Kentucky and West Virginia coalfields continue to dig themselves out of the muck, indefatigable Charleston Gazette reporter Ken Ward is reporting on his Coal Tattoo blog that the EPA has “signed off on almost all (87.5 percent, to be exact) of the mountaintop […]

Pollan takes Manhattan

With his bestselling book In Defense of Food debuting in paperback, Michael Pollan spent Thursday on the TV/radio circuit in Manhattan. He was on the Leonard Lopate show on WNYC.  My favorite bit is when he touches on antitrust in the food industry. “You have more concentration in the food industry than any other industry,” […]

Two homeowners, one monster, and a cutting-edge power source

There’s a monster in our basement. It eats fistfuls of dollar bills, guzzles No. 2 heating oil, and belches filthy clouds of soot and CO2. We have to kill it before it kills us. Only problem is, we and our tenants are dependent on it — this being New England, we need something down there […]

Waxman and Markey divvy up the goods — I wish my parents had given me allowances like this!

Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) have circulated a draft proposal of allowance allocations for their landmark energy and climate legislation (see here and below). They explain: Emission allowances will be allocated to accomplish three primary goals: (1) to protect consumers from energy price increases; (2) to assist industry in the transition to a […]

Taking a bite out of the environment

Phobias are powerful sh*t. Some people really hate bugs, for example. Even consider them torture. Why are these two Gristers smiling? Click here to find outGrist PhotoBut for me, bugs aren’t the worst. If I wind up in a secret detention center and get subjected to the ultimate third degree, here’s a little tip for […]

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson on The Daily Show

Jon Stewart had two green-related segments last night. First was an interview with EPA administrator Lisa Jackson: [vodpod id=Video.1622577&w=425&h=350&fv=autoPlay%3Dfalse] The second was a hilarious Samantha Bee bit on Michelle Obama’s organic garden and Big Ag’s opposition to it: [vodpod id=Video.1622682&w=425&h=350&fv=autoPlay%3Dfalse]

New York Times runs absurdly misleading headline on Revkin’s sea level rise (non)story

Study Halves Prediction of Rising Seas You have got to be kidding me. Just for the record, the study doesn’t actually alter the “prediction of rising seas” in your lifetime — or your grandchildren’s lifetimes — one inch. More accurate would be Reuters, “West Antarctic ice threat revised down; still dire.“  It’s a good headline […]

Is the U.S. consumption binge over?

It looks like U.S. carbon dioxide emissions peaked in 2007. But are we really seeing the start of an even more fundamental change in the U.S. economy, driven by the hyper-recession, team Obama and other major trends (like peak oil and global warming)? I’m very interested in what you are seeing and hearing from your […]

Waxman’s big get: VA Rep. Boucher

“Key Dem backs Waxman climate bill” is how Politico reported this afternoon’s big breaking news.  Boucher is … a coal-country Democrat whose support signals the backing of industrial state Democrats in the south and Midwest. “I intend to vote yes and I intend to encourage all other members of the committee to do the same,” […]

The Lancet’s landmark Health Commission

Lead author Anthony Costello says that failure to act will result in an intergenerational injustice, with our children and grandchildren scorning our generation for ignoring the climate change threat –- with moral outrage similar to how we today look back on those who brought in and did nothing to stop slavery. The Lancet medical journal […]