Latest Articles

Bono knows how to use the cameras

He answers the Davos question: “What one thing do you think that countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008?”

The mercury problem isn’t contained to New York City’s sushi restaurants and markets

In case you needed another reason not to consume the dangerously overfished bluefin tuna: This week, The New York Times had a story about a study of mercury contamination, conducted by the newspaper, of leading sushi restaurants in New York. Guess which species showed the highest level of mercury? In the study, the Times collected samples of tuna sushi from leading restaurants like Blue Ribbon Sushi and Nobu Next Door. The results "found so much mercury in tuna sushi from 20 Manhattan stores and restaurants that at most of them, a regular diet of six pieces a week would exceed the levels considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency."

In addition, the Times noted that "sushi from 5 of the 20 places had mercury levels so high that the Food and Drug Administration could take legal action to remove the fish from the market." In a sidebar about the health risks related to mercury, the Times noted that "several studies have concluded that elevated mercury levels may be associated not only with neurological problems but with cardiovascular disease among adults as well."

What is a conservative?

From Restructuring Today ($ub req'd), reporting on Markey's hearings on allocation vs. auction as a cap & trade methodology:

Even conservative Harvard economist Gregory Mankiw believes a free allocation amounts to corporate welfare.

Even conservative?

EPA chief won’t back down on unpopular California auto-emissions decision

U.S. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson appeared before Senate Democrats today to defend his decision to deny California’s auto-emissions waiver. Johnson stood his ground while senators assailed his decision as in the pocket of special interests, logic-defying, “shameful,” “outrageous,” “irresponsible,” and “unconscionable.” Responded Johnson, “I evaluated all the data, I made the decision, it’s the right […]

Dennis Kucinich drops presidential bid

Dennis Kucinich, perhaps the most truly green of the presidential candidates — and a vegan! — has abandoned his bid for the White House. Take a last look at Grist’s interview with Kucinich and fact sheet on his policies, and shed a tear for what might have been — were the U.S. political landscape entirely […]

Anti-coal activism news

First, the good: here's a feature story in the new Orion magazine about the tactics and successes of the anti-coal activists who've helped halt, count 'em, 59 new plants, according to author Ted Nace. Ted also gives a huge rundown of links and resources for anti-coal activists.

And the ugly: thanks to Maria Gunnoe's success organizing against mountaintop removal mining as a staff member of grassroots group Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and now her lead role in stopping a "valley fill" in her home town in West Virginia that cost some local jobs, her family has been the target of harassment and threats of violence, to the level that she's had to hire guards for her home and install security cameras. This doesn't come cheaply, and they're accepting donations to help keep her in that house, in that community, and stopping MTR's utter destruction of Appalachia. More here, plus an address to send donations to. The woman is a hero and deserves better.

Ag practices are mucking with the Mississippi River, says research

The Mississippi River has been dramatically changed by agricultural practices, says new research in the journal Nature. In the past 50 years or so, carbon levels in the river have jumped 40 percent, while the actual amount of water flowing through the riverbed has increased 9 percent — the equivalent of five Connecticut Rivers. “Agricultural […]

Tom Konrad on cellulosic electricity

The following is a guest essay by Tom Konrad, a financial analyst specializing in renewable energy and energy efficiency companies, a freelance writer, and a contributor to AltEnergyStocks.com.

-----

Romm v. Khosla

In a persuasive series of articles entitled "Pragmatists vs. Environmentalists" (Parts I, II, and III), Vinod Khosla has provided the reasoning behind his "dissing" of plug-in hybrids, which drew the ire of Joseph Romm. Neither seems to think the argument is settled, and Romm returned fire here.

To summarize, Khosla argues that cellulosic ethanol shows more promise for reducing carbon emissions than plug-in hybrids, because the barriers to plug-ins (the need to improve batteries and clean up the grid) are harder to surmount than the barriers to cellulosic ethanol (the improvement of conversion technology). In his words,

I consider replacing coal-based electricity plants (50-year typical life) a much longer, tougher slog than replacing oil with biofuels (15-year car life).

Romm blasts back, reiterating the multiple problems of corn ethanol in response to the first of Khosla's series, but has not yet responded to his point about cellulosic. I thought I'd tackle the point myself.

There isn't enough biomass

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's From Biomass to Biofuels (PDF) study, given all the available biomass in the United States, we will only be able to displace a little less than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent a year. But we currently use about 7 billion barrels of oil a year, so to displace all our oil usage, we would need nearly a 4x increase in fuel efficiency (not the 1.5x increase in internal combustion engines Khosla talks about).

Homuncular Americans lose their greatest advocate

Dennis Kucinich is dropping out of the presidential race, or as he puts it, “transiting out of the presidential campaign.” Good to see him leave on a note of support for public transportation. It is a widely held belief in liberal quarters, and in some pockets of the Grist office, that Kucinich was the greenest […]

Carbon is forever — so ban new traditional coal plants now

Another clear statement (PDF) from the nation's top climate scientist on the scientific need for a dramatic change in global coal policy -- this time addressed to the German chancellor, a fellow physicist. He points out that: