Latest Articles

‘Ice People’ is packed with plenty of ice, not so many people

Antarctica is warming rapidly, climate scientists report, upsetting fragile ecosystems and threatening the world with a significant rise in sea-levels. With the largely uninhabited and frozen continent melting before humanity’s very eyes, what better time to roll out a new documentary about the coldest, driest and windiest place on Earth. Billed as a journey to […]

Think Before You Eat, Agriculture and the Environment

Farmers claim to be stewards of the environment, some would say it’s best friend; others, its worst enemy. The truth is we can be both. Humans have never left a small footprint, we have always tried to shape the environment to suit our needs. Initially farming had one purpose, food; farming provided a more stable […]

Regulating biosolids

Biosolids are regulated under what’s known colloquially (to those who speak colloquially about sewage) as the 503 Sludge Rule, which came into effect in 1993. Technically titled “40 CFR 503 — Standards for the Use and Disposal of Sewage Sludge,” it’s complicated enough that EPA came out with a “Plain English” guide to help make […]

Wolf delisting takes effect today

Photo: Thomas Roche via Flicker Wolf-people, give a howl for your lupine brethren, who lose federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in much of the northern Rocky Mountains and upper Midwest today. The Obama administration, in one of its least popular moves with environmentalists, upheld a Bush era decision that gray wolves have returned […]

Heritage Foundation pushes ‘completely untrue’ attack on clean-energy jobs with a panel

The Heritage Foundation held a panel [today] titled “Busting the Myth of Green Jobs” to show that the experience of Spain is “more a cautionary tale than a blueprint for success.” Instead of showcasing the views of unbiased academics and economists, the Heritage Foundation put forth a panel of individuals financially connected to ExxonMobil. Conservatives […]

Toles on global warming projections

There he goes again — making that link between global warming and extreme weather that the climate deniers hate (see “Why do the deniers try to shout down any talk of a link between climate change and extreme weather?“).  

Energy efficiency vs. neoliberal economics

I spent last week immersed in the views of professionals working to advance energy efficiency resource intelligence. I shall spare you more details — I realize there’s a limit to the wonkery even Grist’s audience can tolerate — but I do want highlight what strikes me as a key takeaway. A few facts to set […]

Obama to meet with swing Dems on climate and energy bill

President Barack Obama is inviting key House Democrats to the White House on Tuesday to discuss the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill, as well as health care and other issues.  Obama is expected to encourage the Democrats — many of whom have expressed concerns about the climate bill — to come to consensus around it. […]

Ethanol waste: it’s what’s for … breakfast?

It’s food, no fuel, no food…For the ethanol industry, much depends on distillers grains, the stuff that’s left over after corn has been fermeneted and distilled to make alcohol. Corn ethanol’s energy balance (net energy produced minus energy consumed in production) is razor thin; it only goes positive when you factor in generous credits for […]

Climate bill is now a longer shot than ‘Mine That Bird’

It looks like President Obama, the horse whisperer of American politics, is finally going to weigh neigh in to get the mudders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee galloping to the finish line. For people who haven’t been paying close attention, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) keeps dropping bigger and bigger hints that […]