Latest Articles

World Bank encourages destructive logging in the Congo, says report

The World Bank’s encouragement of industrial forestry as a means of economic recovery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is counter to the organization’s legal commitment to protecting the environment, according to a new report. An independent inspection panel charges that the bank overestimated possible export revenue from forestry, leading to a logging scramble […]

The threat from climate deniers

People forget that Margaret Mead's overused quote about small groups being able to change the world doesn't necessarily imply "in a good way."

Here's an interesting interview to think about when you next read something from folks like the National Assn. of Manufacturers, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, or Bjorn Lomborg:

Research funded by seafood industry concludes that moms should eat fish

A group of scientists affiliated with the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) announced conclusions yesterday that new moms and moms-to-be should eat at least 12 ounces of seafood per week to encourage wee ones’ brain development. Federal agencies, which advise moms to consume no more than 12 ounces of seafood per week to […]

Water limits on power plants

From Greenwire today (sub req'd): water availability may limit new power plants. This is widely appreciated in the power sector, but doesn't get as much attention elsewhere. It's especially acute as our population growth moves south and west where we are especially water-limited.

What's under-appreciated is that this is a story about efficiency. When two thirds of the fuel we burn in power plants is wasted as heat, and that heat is rejected in cooling towers (at least in coal and nuke facilities), any gain in energy efficiency is a reduction in water use. Given the huge gains available in efficiency, it ought to be central to this discussion. Also bear in mind that Clean Air Act compliance and carbon sequestration drive down the efficiency of coal plants, thereby increasing water use per MWh.

Excerpts of the full article below the fold:

For every problem there’s a solution that’s simple, attractive, and wrong

Like the noise standard one jurisdiction in Michigan has adopted for wind turbines:

"Based on their studies, noise was identified as a key problem. After lengthy research and discussion the regulation was made simple.

"If it makes noise and we can measure it, you shut it down," Arndt said."

Shall we apply that to coal burners and natural gas turbines (jet engines)??

From Butts to Bedtime

Tap that ass We like Butt Butts and we cannot lie. Awkwardly placed spigot and all. Photo: Hemingway Design Stem well-researched Wish your homegrown zucchini was better-endowed? Urine luck! Just be careful not to squat over your alt-pesticide cannibalistic plants. Eat your heart out, Little Shop of Horrors. Photo: Ellen Jong Get your fix The […]

An interview with Sam Brownback about his presidential platform on energy and the environment

This is part of a series of interviews with presidential candidates produced jointly by Grist and Outside. Update: Sam Brownback dropped out of the presidential race on Oct. 19, 2007. Sam Brownback. Photo: IowaPolitics.com “America is on the verge of an energy crisis,” Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) warns on his presidential campaign website, blaming “years […]

Stabilizing the climate requires technology, public investment, and global economic development

The following is a guest essay by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, the latest in the ongoing conversation about their new book Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. —– Thank you to everyone here who has participated in this discussion. We are grateful to Grist to making the space […]

British government approves world’s largest offshore wind farm

Plans for the world’s largest offshore wind farm have been approved by the British government. The project, led by Shell and European energy company Eon, would place up to 341 turbines over 90 square miles off the coast of Kent. While it’s not a done deal, presumably the biggest regulatory hurdles have been overcome; if […]

Seattle in 2020

The year was 2020 and Seattle had become the bicycle capital of the world. Visitors lined the streets to learn how we did it. Thanks to global warming, clothing had gone out of style, but thanks to genetic engineering we could alter our skin pigmentation to be any color we wanted. Racism had become a thing of the past and mustaches were popular again.