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Obama adviser Heather Zichal talks to Grist about energy and climate

Heather Zichal. Barack Obama’s campaign has a deep bench when it comes to climate and energy policy, one that includes scientists, policy wonks, and economists. On July 20, Obama added Heather Zichal to the team as policy director for energy, environment, and agriculture. Before coming to the Obama campaign’s Chicago headquarters, Zichal served as the […]

Rice debates Inhofe tomorrow

For those who can’t get enough of political debates, here’s another of note. Andrew Rice is the Democratic nominee challenging Sen. James Inhofe (R) of Oklahoma for his Senate seat. They are holding their first — and only — debate on Tuesday, 5:15 CDT, in Tulsa. KJRH will televise and stream online for those who […]

Fey is Palin, again

Watch about five minutes in for Palin to address “this climate change whosiwhatsit.”

National Wildlife Federation Action Fund endorses congressional candidates for the first time

The National Wildlife Federation Action Fund is endorsing six congressional candidates in the November election — a first for the group. “We wanted to be able to, at election time, let voters know who are really going to be champions on [conservation and wildlife] issues in Congress, and do what we can to spread the […]

Starbucks accused of big-time water-wasting

Starbucks wastes some 6.2 million gallons of water each day through a health policy that requires a constantly running tap at each store, says a breathless indictment in British tabloid The Sun. A Starbucks spokesperson confirms the use of a dipper well, which uses “a stream of continuous cold fresh-running water to rinse away food […]

Umbra on aerosols

Dear Umbra, Love the column. Keep up the great stuff! A question: My co-workers and I are suspicious of buying spray cans, even though we know they no longer contain CFCs. We suspect that aerosol cans contain HCFCs — hydrochlorofluorocarbons — which are proving to be dangerous as well, this time as greenhouse gases. Do […]

It’s time to build the green-collar economy

This post originally ran on Wonk Room. —– At best, the federal government’s bail out of Wall Street will help the U.S. economy — which is already in a ditch — avoid a total meltdown. Fine. Now we need a plan to jumpstart the economy and actually get America moving again. In my new book, […]

We have another billion-dollar resource at risk: the ocean

The financial collapse of the past couple of weeks offers striking parallels to the collapse of ocean wildlife. How is what’s happening in Wall Street and in financial capitals around the world like what’s happening in our seas? Lehman Brothers and Canadian cod aren’t coming back The word “collapse” appears in nearly every thoughtful report […]

Economics of GHG reduction, part bazillion

Two troubling things I heard last week: The on-going question about what our next president will sacrifice in the name of the economy. If the financial crisis has taught us nothing else, it is that federal coffers are not infinite, and something will inevitably give. At a panel on GHG policy in Washington, congressional staffers […]

Author and physicist Richard A. Muller chats with Grist about getting science back in the White House

E = MC2 may be the best-known principle of physics, but close behind is the rule that physicists must, like Albert Einstein, have a mustache — and Richard A. Muller is no exception. Richard A. Muller. Facial hair earns no mention in his new book, Physics for Future Presidents, but it’s an illuminating read nonetheless. […]