Latest Articles

Straight Talk about Corporate Social Responsibility

Critical thinking about “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) is needed, because there are few topics where discussions feature greater ratios of heat to light.  With this in mind, two of my Harvard colleagues – law professor Bruce Hay and business school professor Richard Vietor – and I co-edited a book, Environmental Protection and the Social Responsibility […]

How the ‘OMB memo’ non-story happened

How to cook a non-story…Courtesy Arbron via Flickr Now that the “White House memo” hoopla is over — except insofar as it will live on forever as a zombie Republican talking point — it’s worth pausing to review what happened. It’s a remarkable, real-time example of how the polluter/Republican/media nexus works. And it raises some […]

Treating climate change as a security threat

Photo illustration by Tom Twigg / Grist Old soldiers, as they say, never die — and at 97 the legendary Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap seems intent on proving the point. But he does not seem to be that interested in fading away, either. For the man who drove out first France and then the […]

Seattle chef Maria Hines wins James Beard Award for her organic creations

Photo: Ron WurzerSeattle chef Maria Hines has cooked up an award-winning recipe for success: serve sustainable, organic foods from your local area in a welcoming atmosphere with a neighborhoody feel. The resulting dish? Tilth. Nestled in small green home in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood, it’s only the country’s second restaurant to receive organic certification from Oregon […]

Ask Umbra on escalators

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, Nice column on elevators. Since most elevators are counterbalanced, there is much less energy use involved than most people would expect. It’s nice to see the addition of hybrid technology to recapture the braking energy, though. On the other hand, those ESCALATORS ….. ! I have seen […]

Hybrid electric bike …with afterburners

In honor of national Bike to Work Week, I shot some helmet cam footage of my hybrid bike in action. Hills and cars are the bane of bikers everywhere. One problem at a time I always say.

Dirty energy interests have spent $79 million this year lobbying Congress

The oil, gas, and electricity sectors spent tens of millions more to lobby Congress in the first quarter of 2009 than their renewable-energy counterparts. Big whoop, right? You could have guessed that. But the disparity between their spending — at a time when Congress is seriously considering far-reaching climate and energy legislation — is striking. […]

Climate-pollution cash shaping fate of Waxman-Markey clean energy legislation

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. Last week, President Obama and Vice President Biden urged the Democrats on the House energy committee during a White House meeting to take “quick action” on comprehensive green economy legislation. Negotiations over how much industries will be subsidized to make the transition to clean energy have stalled subcommittee negotiations over the […]

What exactly is the difference between journalism and blogging?

Seriously, what is the difference between blogging and journalism?  My answer is at the end.  Your comments are welcome, as always. The climate misreporting of the day goes to ABC News’ Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper and the AP’s Dina Cappiello.  Tapper’s blog today runs the sensational but untrue headline: Obama Administration Memo Warns […]

Facebook app translates online efforts into real-world environmental change

Climate change may take place in the offline world, but that doesn’t mean the online world is relegated to mere words and worry about it. A clear example is the dedicated crew of young eco-activists at Hot Dish, a climate news-‘n’-action application on Facebook. Hot Dish aims to move people from online engagement with climate […]