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15 Green Actors 15 Green Buildings 15 Green Business Founders 15 Green Cars 15 Green Chefs 15 Green Cities 15 Green Colleges 15 Green Fashion Finds 15 Green Fashionistas 15 Green Movies 15 Green Musicians and Bands 15 Green Politicians 15 Green Religious Leaders 15 Green Sports Stars

Romantic underwater secrets revealed

I came across this nugget of information when looking for something else, but thought it was worth sharing:

Scott Cummins and his colleagues at The University of Queensland have uncovered a potent mix of chemicals which acts like a cross between Chanel No 5 and Viagra -- but only if you are a sea slug.

Who knew things grew in NYC?

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (Brooklyn), I got lunch with one of our Gristmill readers, Marielle Anzelone, who works as a botanist for the city of New York. We talked for well over an hour. I learned more about plants, invasive species, urban ecology, and biodiversity than I could possibly […]

Readers write in about presidential candidates, green lists, and Grist’s “suck-it” chauvinism

  Dear Editor: OK, John Edwards seems to have a really good plan, so why cast doubt on his sincerity? (“What mixture of genuine sentiment and political calculation is behind that strategy only he and Elizabeth know…”) We can’t be sure what any candidate has in his or her heart, so we can only judge […]

Each country will have to find its own way to carbon neutrality

Thankfully the lay press has finally stopped calling for the United States to follow Brazil's lead for energy independence. The blogosphere took over where the lay press left off on that misdiagnosis, although I still hear the echo once in a while. Turns out, Brazil may be heading for an energy crunch of its own. According to this article in the Economist, Brazil may be experiencing blackouts within five years if the economy grows as predicted.

Because they are fat with rivers, they plan to build more dams, which is one of those damned damned if you do dam, damned if you don't dam situations. Apparently they already get four-fifths of their energy from dams, and there are still lots of rivers to tap. Wind, solar, and geothermal power don't enter the discussion -- I suspect because they are not as cheap.

But then there was this:

Don’t pretend to write about this stuff out of concern, please

A while back, a guy who writes for a magazine called Radar emailed to alert me of his "exclusive" discovery that Barbara Streisand is totally a hypocrite!!1! I replied, in so many words: eh. Apparently it struck a nerve, as he has now gone on to pen an opus that strains mightily to convince us […]

State Senator Andrew Rice gears up to run for Inhofe’s seat

David. Joe Namath. The 1980 U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey Team.

Where am I going with this, you might be asking yourself? Here's a better clue: Jerry McNerney. And now, Andrew Rice.

Yup, the climate's least favorite Senator, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, now has a challenger. And Andrew is getting great reviews from the eco-community: Smart as as whip. Has a masters degree from Harvard Divinity School. Articulate and charismatic. A committed environmentalist, and a man of deep conscience. When his brother was killed in 9/11, he dedicated himself to social justice and political reform. Especially for the latter, what better place to start from than Oklahoma's Senate seat?

This is going to be entertaining.

Fear of traffic snarls led to easier commutes in Seattle

We tend to think of traffic as an immutable -- that there's literally nothing we can do in our day-to-day lives to drive less.

But Seattle's continued and mostly unexpected free-flowing traffic -- in the midst of a major construction project that some feared would trigger a morass of congestion throughout Puget Sound -- shows that this is simply false. Far from being rigid and incompressible, traffic and travel patterns are surprisingly fluid. Seattle's experience demonstrates that, when drivers are given good travel choices and the right kinds of information and incentives, they can get out of their cars. And in Seattle's case, when lots of people got out of their cars, it made getting to work a relative breeze.

From Lohan to Lovin’

Paparazzi can you hear me? “I feel like the asshole, the idiot, because I feel like I’m distracting from the other things that are important, like global warming and that kind of stuff.” We hear ya, Lindsay — we had that same problem, until we listened to Leo. Photo: Tony Barson / WireImage.com Raising the […]

Except not really

I don’t do much writing about peak oil here. It’s horrifically depressing, for one thing, and for another I doubt I could add to the comprehensive work being done at the Oil Drum and elsewhere. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. If you’re like me and you only tune in to the issue […]