Latest Articles

Pulitzers await the enterprising journalist who digs into the RGGI efficiency story

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first legally binding cap-and-trade system in the hemisphere, kicked off yesterday with the world’s largest carbon credit auction. The program immediately failed. I don’t know anything about the results of the auction, which won’t be made public until Monday, but I do know that whatever happened, RGGI is a […]

Vital video

The best concise explanation of the climate tipping points I’ve seen (11 min.): Wake Up, Freak Out – then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

Reusable shopping bags not so green if you don’t use ’em

These days, you can’t swing a dead cabbage without hitting a reusable bag. The darlings of the environmental movement (totes, not cabbages) are increasingly being provided free or cheap to green-minded consumers. And they serve a good purpose: four or five reusable bags, used at least once a week, can replace the use of 520 […]

U.K. eco-watchdog: No more coal without CCS

The U.K.’s environmental watchdog agency, aptly called the Environment Agency, has called for the government to prevent the construction of any further coal plants without carbon capture and sequestration. This has always struck me as the issue that every green group and smart politician should rally around. Nobody, literally nobody, openly defends building dirty coal […]

Debate is a go

The McCain campaign says he’ll debate tonight after all. After that he’ll fly back to D.C. to continue his oh-so-helpful role in the negotiations over the financial bailout. Meanwhile, this morning Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said: “A few days ago, I called on Sen. McCain to take a stand — let us know where […]

Last year’s world CO2 emissions exceeded most dire IPCC predictions

The world’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2007 exceeded even some of the direst predictions of climate scientists, growing 3 percent from 2006 according to an annual report from the Global Carbon Project. The climb in overall emissions last year was especially surprising given the economic downturn that was expected to help curb emissions. For the […]

Will chocolate replace coffee as the foodie’s bean of obsession?

In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night. —– Dear Grist: So what’s the deal with this “bean to bar” thing I hear about with chocolate? People are calling chocolate the […]

Danish P.M. urges United States to reengage in climate talks

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is in the United States this week to encourage engagement in the negotiations over a new global climate pact between now and the United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled to take place in Copenhagen in late 2009. In a speech before a meeting of the Environmental Grant Makers Association […]

McCain gambles with the U.S. economy; House Republicans hold the bailout hostage; chaos reigns

Yes, yes, I know the financial crisis is not strictly a green issue — except insofar as it dries up capital desperately needed for green investments — but I just have to put some kind of note on record here. This is the most bizarre political season in memory, and the last few days have […]

Clif Bar’s husband-and-wife CEO team talk about staying independent in a Big Organic world

Kit Crawford and Gary Erickson. Photo: Bart Nagel Walk into Clif Bar’s Berkeley headquarters, and you might think you’ve entered greenie-nonprofit world: multiple recycling stations, cruiser bikes kept for employees’ lunchtime use, and a fridge that serves as a pickup point for a local farm’s community-supported agriculture program. Vending machines peddle Amy’s Organic frozen meals […]