Latest Articles

NOAA says July 08 was fifth warmest on record

I know we’re supposed to be going into a period of cooling, at least according to people who don’t believe in the scientific method. For those who do however, NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center reports in its “Climate of 2008 July in Historical Perspective”: Based on preliminary data, the globally averaged combined land and sea […]

A video for World Water Week

It’s World Water Week, so I have an almost-legit excuse for posting this quirky, quotable video. It’s part of the Look Around You series, a British spoof of ’70s and ’80s educational videos that takes on other scientific topics like Maths and Ghosts. Make sure you have your copybook at hand:

Snippets from the news

• One-third of U.S. schools are in “air pollution danger zone.” • Forever 21 to be built on site of L.A. community garden. • Beehives harbor 70 different pesticides. • Chinese media guidelines: don’t mention carcinogenic water. • Happy World Water Week!

Dean’s Beans founder on the good effects of trade

On my pet topic of how business is creating grassroots good in the world, here’s a great interview [mp3] from Corporate Watchdog Radio with the founder of Dean’s Beans, a fair trade coffee company. Dean Cycon travels to the coffee-lands and meets directly with the communities he buys from. He’s building (global) community and raising […]

Virginia governor falsely claims Obama shares his support for new coal

Virginia governor Tim Kaine (D) held a Northern Virginia town hall meeting in Prince William County in the Washington, D.C. exurbs as part of his campaign for Barack Obama. The subtext of the town hall (one of a series) is that Kaine is trying to prove his value to Obama so he can get the […]

T. Boone Pickens gets face time with both prez candidates

T. Boone Pickens, the former Texas oilman who has turned his focus — and substantial funding — to renewable energy, breakfasted with both of the presidential candidates in past days. (But is he still a slim Pickens?) The billionaire met with John McCain on Friday; Pickens has said that he supports the Republican candidate, but […]

Study claims shareholder and climate activism are bad for stock prices

You know that an organizing tactic which targets business practices is effective when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce opens its big yap about it. Recent actions getting these guys’ attention include activist shareholders at a recent Bank of America shareholder meeting decrying its coal investments, including mountaintop removal, and a resolution supported by Dow Chemical […]

Umbra on toxins in your body

Dear Umbra, I saw an infomercial late at night about these foot pads that you wear to sleep and they will “remove toxins from your body.” I didn’t know who else to ask, so you win that lottery. Do we actually have that many toxins in our body? And does wearing silly pads on our […]

Indonesian province puts moratorium on rainforest destruction

I just started as Greenpeace’s media director, in part because I wanted to help Greenpeace save the world’s rainforests, a topic I’ve written a lot about at Grist and elsewhere. Within a week of starting the job, I knew I’d made a good decision when I got this news release from our Southeast Asian office: […]

Why is nuclear energy what ‘real men’ support?

On Friday, I pointed to some survey results showing that more men than women support nuclear power, by a 72-40 percent margin. Today, I was reading a Lou Aguilar piece in National Review called "Real Men Vote for McCain" — which as far as I can tell is not parody, though it’s difficult to be […]