Latest Articles

The economic crisis should prompt more green infrastructure spending, not less

I’m no expert in macroeconomics. You probably aren’t either. But there’s a battle over macroeconomics shaping up, and everyone keen on shifting the U.S. toward sustainability has a vested interest in how it turns out. (Which is why I keep writing about it.) The question is how to react to the financial crisis and what […]

Budget-saving tips awfully similar to planet-preserving prescriptions

Who are you to deny me my two-car garage filled with junk, an elegant dining room I’ll never use, and massive heating/cooling bills? That’s the basic response from critics when greens question McMansions in particular and our consumer culture in general. I mean, isn’t newer, bigger, better the American way? Didn’t President Bush urge us […]

Utilities moving in on distributed generation solar markets

There’s a new phenomenon afoot. Across the U.S., utilities are getting involved in distributed generation solar markets like never before. In March, Southern California Edison submitted an application to the California Public Utilities Commission to install 250 to 500 MW of solar photovoltaics, in projects of 1 to 3 MW, on leased rooftops distributed throughout […]

Investigators see more SUV arsons as economy sinks

Gas prices are high and the economy’s low — when the car loan payments are hard to meet, what’s an SUV driver to do? In too many cases, the answer seems to be: torch it. Investigators suspect that hundreds of vehicles have been burned in such a fashion in the Washington, D.C., area alone over […]

Greenpeace formally disavows any connection to industry shill Patrick Moore

Patrick Moore is a paid shill for the nuclear industry — through op-eds, astroturf groups, and relentless cozying up to reporters, he works around the clock to convince the public that nuclear is safe and clean and economical and consequently that it deserves billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. Fine. That’s his right. What’s not […]

Environmental crimes rampant and under-investigated, report says

Environmental crimes such as illegal logging, trade in endangered species, illegal fishing, and trade in banned refrigerants are rampant and growing, according to a report from the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency. Organized-crime networks are raking in over $10 billion a year through commission of environmental crimes, and national and international police organizations are doing little […]

Colo. Democrat Mark Udall talks to Grist about energy issues and his tough Senate race

One of the most lively debates over energy and environmental policy is taking place in Colorado’s Senate race this year, where Rep. Mark Udall (D) and former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R) are duking it out in the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R). Bob Schaffer. Schaffer represented Colorado’s 4th Congressional District from […]

Brooks Brothers rioter turns attention to energy this election season

This post was originally published on the website of the Center for Public Integrity and is reposted on Grist with CPI’s kind permission. —– An advocacy group run by a political operative with oil industry ties (and a famous photo-op history) is spearheading a late advertising blitz to sway Senate races, spending more than $650,000 […]

King of the Hill takes on green

Last Sunday, Fox’s animated show King of the Hill ran an episode called “Earthy Girls Are Easy.” (You can watch the full episode here.) I was excited when I heard about it. KotH is a brilliant show, the only one on television that pokes fun at low-income rural white people in a way that is […]

McCain’s ‘Farm and Ranch Team’ is chock full of agribiz heavies

In a recent Victual Reality column, I gave John McCain his due for holding fast to his positions against crop and biofuel subsidies — even if his overall farm policies generally suck. In an attempt to boost his flailing campaign and shore up support in the Farm Belt, the self-declared maverick may be abandoning those […]