Latest Articles

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. […]

Why more government now means less in the future

“Socialism!” the House Republicans cried when the financial bailout was proposed — and they were right, if you define socialism as the takeover of part of the economy by the government. We’ll be in for much more of this sort of thing if the House Republicans and the rest of the federal government keeps worshiping […]

The Wolf Trap Center connects art and nature

    This is a guest post from my travel partner, Todd Dwyer, head blogger for Dell’s ReGeneration.org. —– After our visit to the amazing Philip Merrill Environmental Center in Annapolis, Maryland, Sarah and I hopped in our trusty steed, Cletus the Prius, for a drive to the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts […]

Nearly a quarter of wild mammal species are in danger of extinction

Some 21 percent of the world’s 5,487 known wild mammal species are in danger of extinction, according to the updated Red List maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. (Steller sea lions and tigers and giant pandas, oh no!) “Our results paint a bleak picture of the global status of mammals worldwide,” […]

Enviro news from the presidential campaign trail

  • The New Republic looks at Sarah Palin’s record as governor of Alaska, focusing on toxic waste and the health of the state’s residents. The state has a rate of birth-defects twice the national average, and many believe it’s because of the “toxic stew” from the byproducts of mining and energy development like arsenic, […]

Carbon offsets still booming despite financial crisis

The carbon-offset market in the United States is still booming despite the financial crisis, with offset sellers reporting continued gains even in the face of rising offset prices. Analysts say the carbon market’s relative strength could mean consumers’ green guilt knows no bounds or that the country’s recent economic troubles have not hit most would-be […]