Latest Articles

Corn ethanol approaches a moment of truth

Courtesy Randy Wick via Flickr [UPDATED 4/24] As expected, California’s Air Resources Board passed the LCFS with the indirect land use component intact. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the actual model to be used in the calculation (including to what extent gasoline will incur an indirect land use penalty) won’t be […]

Joe Barton tries to stump Steven Chu with question about where oil comes from

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), a climate skeptic with some wacky theories of his own, tried to stump Energy Secretary Steven Chu at Wednesday’s climate-bill hearing by asking, “How did all the oil and gas get to Alaska and under the Arctic Ocean?” Later, Barton bragged via Twitter, “I seemed [sic] to have baffled the Energy […]

An interview with author Scott Russell Sanders

Scott Russell Sanders, author of A Conservationist ManifestoCourtesy of Indiana University PressI’ve had some great teachers over the years, but none quite like Scott Russell Sanders, the gentle guru of Bloomington, Indiana, and a leading light of Midwestern environmentalism. To call him articulate doesn’t begin to do justice. He exudes a sort of intellectual clarity, […]

The psychology of eco-choices

Pay a lot, get a little?Hawaiian AirlinesYesterday I was on New Hampshire Public Radio’s Word of Mouth, and another segment near mine caught my eye. (Ear?) It was about the psychology of green decision-making, pivoting off a Richard Conniff piece on behavioral economics. (Which dropped at the same time as the related New York Times […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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? […]

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 […]

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 […]