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Latest Articles

  • Baltimore baker takes on great quacking menace

    Last week, The New York Times' David Streitfeld told the story of one J.R. Paterakis, a Baltimore "baker" who opposes the Conservation Reserve Program, which provides incentives to farmers to set aside their land for wildlife, clean water, and (incidentally) massive carbon sequestration. Seemed like an opportunity to deploy my rye wit.

    The program has been a huge success -- protecting 35 million acres of land and partially restoring the "duck factory" of the upper Midwest that fills the skies of North America with quacks and hunting opportunities -- so why has Mr. Paterakis put this great environmental success story in his sights?

    Glenn Hurowitz Politics

  • McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin opens up on climate and energy

    Douglas Holtz-Eakin. Opinions differ on the quality of John McCain‘s domestic policy agenda, but you’d have trouble finding anyone in Washington who would disparage the man he’s chosen as one of his top advisers. Douglas Holtz-Eakin has a dauntingly long resume and a reputation among policy wonks on both sides of the aisle for fair-minded […]

    Grist staff Politics

  • Think all-electric vehicles coming to the U.S.

    Ray Lane, the managing partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is about to announce some news. (He’s up on stage with Jan-Olaf Willums, CEO of Think Global AS, and Wilber James, managing general partner of RockPort Capital Partners.) Ah. He’s launching Think North America — bringing Think vehicles to the U.S. Hundreds of the […]

    David Roberts Technology

  • Shai Agassi talks electric cars in Israel

    I’m watching Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Project Better Place, talk about the scheme he put together to fill Israel with electrical cars and recharging stations, with the ultimate goal of eliminating oil as a transportation fuel in the country. (He’s going to do it in Denmark as well.) (A side note: this meeting […]

    David Roberts Technology

  • Cats and dogs contaminated with chemicals, says study

    Fido and Fluffy are contaminated with higher levels of toxic chemicals than humans are, according to a report from the Environmental Working Group. In a test of the blood and urine of dozens of cats and dogs, researchers found 48 industrial chemicals. The contamination likely comes from such actions as gnawing on plastic toys, sleeping […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • California utilities scuffle over cap-and-trade

    California is well aware that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is easier said than done. The state’s attempts to craft an effective cap-and-trade system are causing infighting among public utilities and their privately owned counterparts. Public utilities, which source more of their power from coal, protest that they’re going to end up paying out the nose to […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • Fortune Brainstorm Green

    I flew down to Pasadena today for the Fortune Brainstorm: Green conference. There’s tons of interesting stuff on the agenda — a mix of corporate types and NGO types, technology and policy topics. I’m moderating a panel on Monday night called "Meet the Rabble Rousers," an informal discussion wherein activists answer questions about the rabble […]

    David Roberts Technology

  • Enough with the internecine warfare over Lieberman-Warner

    A lot of green folks of my acquaintance seem to have two and only two things to say about the Lieberman-Warner climate bill: It won’t achieve what science demands. Those who support it, even with qualifiers, even while pushing for improvements, are earth f*cking, corporate bootlicking sellouts. Maybe I’m just feeling kumbaya because it’s 4/20 […]

    David Roberts Politics

  • RFK Jr. advocates for cap-and-trade, renewables, smart grids

    Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s got a three-point plan for the next president. I think it would work.

    Adam Browning Politics

  • New analysis explores whether Congress can do a better job with CCS than Bush administration

    coal_on_fire.gifOne of biggest debates about climate solutions is whether coal generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is going to be practical and affordable on the timescale needed to avoid catastrophic outcomes. And, of course, there are many who don't think coal should be saved at all.

    I am not in the second camp, but I doubt coal with CCS is likely to exceed one wedge (I'll discuss this more next week). And we probably need 14 wedges to stay below 450 ppm. I have no doubt concentrated solar will delivery far more power than coal with CCS -- two or three wedges are possible.

    The coal industry has long been in denial about the reality of human-caused global warming, so they are woefully unprepared for what is to come. And the administration has botched FutureGen, the centerpiece of its CCS effort.

    Can Congress do a better job? The answer can be found in a new analysis by Bob Sussman and Ken Berlin for the Center for American Progress, "Maximizing Carbon Capture and Storage Under the Lieberman Warner Global Warming Bill." Here is a summary:

    Joseph Romm Politics