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Latest Articles

  • Umbra on paint disposal

    Dear Umbra, A friend of mine is a painter. He is concerned about the environment and has been trying to find out how to dispose of his paint buckets, extra paint, and other supplies in a way that is eco-friendly, but he’s come up with nothing. We live in Chicago, and you would think that […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Why did Dems bargain down the energy bill?

    Lots of people wonder why Reid and Senate Democrats were so willing, almost eager, to bargain the energy bill down to the point where it was a mere nubbin of its former robust self. Why not draw a line in the sand and force Republicans to take a stand against clean energy? This story from […]

    David Roberts Politics

  • FutureGen on at 5:00 p.m. Central, tonight

    Fox News is doing a special report on the FutureGen project and -- rather remarkably -- couldn't find anyone to argue that $6500/kW coal-fired power coupled to a hydrogen plant is a dumb idea.

    Then along came Grist, and this crazy blogger who thinks FutureGen is dopey. The interview was last Friday; they're running the coverage tonight, in advance of tomorrow's decision on whether Illinois or Texas will "win." (Nice plug for Grist here, eh? Apparently, nowhere else in the world can you find someone who won't sing the praises of this particular boondoggle.)

    Now to see whether I look as smart as I think I am after editing ...

    UPDATE: Watch the segment here.

    Sean Casten Technology

  • Levittown, N.Y., aims to be first green suburb

    Think the phrase “green suburb” is an oxymoron? Levittown, N.Y., begs to differ.

    Grist staff Cities

  • A public policy silver bullet that’s available to fight global warming today

    Steve Heckeroth’s piece "Solar is the solution" has been recommended all over the green blogosphere, first by Robert Rapier, I think. It’s great reading, but I wanted to hone in on one thing he mentions — a piece of public policy that has been woefully under-hyped. To wit: with today’s technology, we know how to […]

    David Roberts Cities

  • It’s not whether we can beat climate change with today’s tools, but whether we can get moving

    Tyler Hamilton ran across some elaborate, multibillion-dollar plans for a carbon capture and sequestration network in Canada, geared around enhanced oil recovery. Naturally it was asking the government (read: Canadian taxpayers) to assume the bulk of the risk. Naturally it won’t be done for well over a decade. Then he ran across something else: Then […]

    David Roberts Climate & Energy

  • The Bali meeting, and the lessons learned

    It's important, this time, to draw conclusions, and to do so publicly. Because Bali has taken us -- barely and painfully -- over a line and into a new and even more difficult level in the climate game we'll be playing for the rest of our lives. In fact, it's not too much to say that, with the realizations of the last year and their culmination at the 13th Conference of Parties, the game has, finally, belatedly, begun in earnest.

    First up, we knew going into Bali that if the old routine continued without variation, we'd really be in trouble. The timing of this meeting alone made this clear. Here we were, after the skeptics, after the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report, after Gore's (and the IPCC's) Nobel Prize. We know now how grave the situation is. So it's with great relief that I'm able to say that, judging at least by Bali, the game has indeed changed -- except, of course, for the United States.

    Tom Athanasiou Politics

  • Sea-level rise this century could be twice IPCC’s predictions, says research

    If you thought the predictions of sea-level rise by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were bad, you should probably stop reading. Researchers publishing in brand-new journal Nature Geoscience say the oceans could surge twice as high this century as the IPCC’s predictions, or some 64 inches. So, um, let’s hope they’re wrong.

    Grist staff Climate & Energy

  • Why bees and pigs are not machines

    In yesterday's New York Times Magazine, Michael Pollan writes, "Two stories in the news this year, stories that on their faces would seem to have nothing to do with each other let alone with agriculture, may point to an imminent breakdown in the way we're growing food today."

    Can you guess what they are?

    Answer here.

    Maywa Montenegro Food

  • Another terrible bill?

    I'll cover the debate over the omnibus spending bill here tomorrow. It's being held until at least then, as the Senate deals with FISA shenanigans, which you can view for the next several hours on C-SPAN 2.

    Brian Beutler Politics