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Q: How much can West Antarctica plausibly contribute to sea-level rise by 2100?

U.K. Telegraph: “Antarctic ice bridge collapse hailed as new sign of global warming.” A. 3 to 5 feet — contributing to an increasingly likely total sea-level rise of more than 5 feet by 2100, a rise that will be all but impossible to stop if we don’t sharply reverse CO2 emissions trends within a decade […]

Providing the tools to get a strong international climate agreement

People always ask me: how do we get a strong international commitment to solve global warming pollution? What “tools” do U.S. negotiators (and others) have to secure an equitable commitment from all major emitters to reduce global warming pollution? How do we support the most vulnerable developing countries in adapting to the impacts of global […]

Power Down for the Planet video contest issues challenge for greener computing

As an online-only publication using tree-free pencils (also known as “computers”), Grist is familiar with the energy-sucking pitfalls of internet technology. Which is why we think it’s so swell that the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) is ganging up with the EPA’s ENERGY STAR program for some new-fashioned video contest fun a la Power Down […]

CDC study finds rocket fuel chemical in baby formula

This story was originally published at ProPublica.org. Perchlorate, a hazardous chemical in rocket fuel, has been found at potentially dangerous levels in powdered infant formula, according to a study [PDF] by a group of Centers for Disease Control scientists. The study, published last month by The Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, has intensified […]

In India, leading a lavatory revolution

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak displays a beaker of colorless, odorless, pathogen-free liquid manure distilled from human excreta. The fertilizer is created using a low-tech, five-step process that includes sand and charcoal filtering and exposure to ultraviolet rays. Methane is captured and burned as cooking fuel. Kevin Ferguson DELHI, India — Ah, the Sulabh International Museum of […]

Reid backs away from funding health care via cap-and-trade

Remember how Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) last week opened the door to the possibility of using cap-and-trade revenues to fund a new health-care system? He’s now sounding less enthused about the idea, saying he has “no big plot” to pay for health care with cap-and-trade. Meanwhile, it’s become clear that Congress will have […]

‘We set our own pace’

“We are building our consensus, and when we are ready, we will bring it to the floor. I have never been driven by a Senate timetable or what they are willing to pass. We set our own pace and our own standard here, but respectful of what we can get done, working together with the […]

Q: Does a climate bill have to be bipartisan?

I’m updating my previous answer to this important and complicated question, but sticking with “no” for four reasons: 1. Against all evidence, conservative Republicans have simply refused to budge on the global warming issue (see “House GOP pledge to fight all action on climate. “Why do conservatives hate your children?”). They would rather destroy the […]

First quarter cleantech VC funding hits $1 billion — green stimulus funds soar to $400 billion

Clean tech venture capital funding in the first quarter of 2009 hit $1 billion, according to “findings released today by the Cleantech Group in cooperation with Deloitte.” For the authors of the findings, the headline news was global cleantech VC funding “dropped 41 percent during 1Q09, compared to the previous quarter.” But that $1 billion […]

Toward a less efficient and more robust food system

Produce at a farmer’s market in North Carolina Courtesy RICHIR on Flickr Editor’s Note: This is a version of an address delivered before the High Country Local Food Summit on March 26, in Boone, N.C., organized by Appalachian State University’s Sustainable Development Department. The High Country is a three-county region in the mountains of western […]