Latest Articles

Crown Estate’s offer fans interest in wind farming

This Guardian story was written by reporter Terry Macalister. Grist is a member of the Guardian’s Environment Network. —– The Crown Estate, holder of the Queen’s property, has helped trigger a resurgence of interest for wind projects in the deep waters off Britain by promising to invest in projects at a time when schemes are […]

Hawaii lei’s out ambitious clean-energy plans

Hawaii’s largest utility has lei’d out plans to help the state source 70 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. Hawaiian Electric Co. has promised to never break ground on another coal plant (yippee!) and will convert existing fossil-fuel generators to local-crop biofuels. Just pour that piña colada in your tank, Hank! “It’s […]

Government report criticizes U.S. plans for carbon dioxide burial

The following is a guest essay from Peter Montague, executive director of the Environmental Research Foundation. —– In the U.S. today we burn coal to make half of all our electricity. This coal emits about 1.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is 33 percent of all U.S. CO2 emissions [XLS].[1] CO2 […]

Green groups lose court battle to force Canada to abide by Kyoto Protocol

Green groups Friends of the Earth and Ecojustice Canada lost their court bid Monday to force the Canadian federal government to abide by a national law passed last year requiring the country to meet its Kyoto Protocol targets. As a signatory to the Kyoto treaty, Canada agreed to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions to 6 percent […]

EBay to ban sales of ivory on its website

Online auction giant eBay announced Monday that it will ban sales of ivory via its website starting next year due to concerns that it is helping to fuel poaching of endangered elephants. The announcement was made ahead of a report [PDF] released Tuesday by the International Fund for Animal Welfare that tracked online wildlife-product commerce […]

Washington Post editors join the ranks of the climate confused

The Post ran an editorial, “Cap and Return: Fight the recession or fight global warming? Congress can do both,” that is as confused as it is well-meaning. The Post supports strong action now, but they recycle a new inactivist talking point — we need to modify or weaken our climate strategies because of the recession […]

Study: California’s green economy has created 1.5 million jobs, $45 billion

Originally posted at the Wonk Room. —– As Bush’s pollution-based policies continue to drive our economy and planet to the brink of disaster, conservatives are crying that changing course with progressive energy policies would “ravage the countryside” with “huge economic costs.” But a major new study of the success of California’s green economy tells the […]

Frontline documentary ‘Heat’ looks at the politics of global warming

The PBS program “Frontline” is premiering a new two-hour documentary about global warming on Tuesday night: Heat, produced by Martin Smith. Though it kicks off with discussion of melting icecaps, it’s way more heavy on the political side of the issue than the scientific. It puts the presidential candidates’ rhetoric on climate change into the […]

The dirty secret behind D.C.’s high-tech Virginia suburbs

There’s a chance the presidential election will come down to who wins the state of Virginia. And the key to winning Virginia comes down to who does well in the D.C. suburbs of northern Virginia. This area is an economic powerhouse where no fewer than one in three Virginia voters live. Just mention the words […]

I’ll be reporting from Slow Food’s Terra Madre conference in Turin, Italy

Yes, it’s a tough job, etc., etc. For the next week, starting Wednesday, I’ll be reporting from the ground in Turin, Italy, covering Slow Food’s biennial Terra Madre/Salone del Gusto event. Food activists and artisans from around the world will be there. It’s my first Terra Madre, so I don’t have a clear idea of […]