Latest Articles

Forthwith debunked

Every silver lining has a cloud -- or so we are told.

Climate analyst Jesse Ausubel is getting a lot of press with his new, controversial, deeply flawed study, "Renewable and nuclear heresies" (available here with subscription, but you can get the main points from this 2005 Canadian Nuclear Association talk and the accompanying PPT presentation).

He says ramping up renewables would lead to the "rape of nature." His study concludes:

Renewables are not green. To reach the scale at which they would contribute importantly to meeting global energy demand, renewable sources of energy, such as wind, water and biomass, cause serious environmental harm. Measuring renewables in watts per square metre that each source could produce smashes these environmental idols. Nuclear energy is green. However, in order to grow, the nuclear industry must ... form alliances with the methane industry to introduce more hydrogen into energy markets, and start making hydrogen itself ... Considered in watts per square metre, nuclear has astronomical advantages over its competitors.

Uh, no, no, and no. Jesse popularized the notion that the economy has been decarbonizing for many decades (see Figure 2 of the PPT). This has led him to make a bunch of serious mistakes.

Who Needs Enforcement When Things Are Going So Well?

U.S. EPA doesn’t employ enough eco-cops, memo says The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reportedly violating a law that requires it to employ at least 200 criminal investigators. The agency has 174 eco-cops on board — some of whom are pulled off duty to guard EPA head Stephen Johnson when he travels. Because … eco-crimes […]

Driver Education

Ground-level ozone could be important factor in climate change If you’ve spent time proudly mastering the difference between ground-level ozone and climate change, prepare to be flummoxed: the two issues appear to be linked. According to a study in Nature, ground-level ozone damages plants, affecting their ability to absorb carbon dioxide, which allows more CO2 […]

Now That’s Density

British government plans new eco-towns, flood-plain development The British government announced plans this week to build 2 million new homes by 2016, including five carbon-neutral “eco-towns” of at least 5,000 homes each. Each green town will have public transportation to existing cities, favor green space and walkability, include 30 to 50 percent affordable housing, and […]

Philpott on the ground in corn country

In my very first article for Grist a year and a half ago, I declared with confidence that “If you’re going to talk about poverty, food, and the environment in the United States, you might as well start in the Corn Belt.” Trouble is, I had never actually been in corn country, at least not […]

Court upholds ban on kangaroo-hide sneaks

A California Supreme Court decision Monday upheld a 36-year-old ban on the import and sale of products made from various wildlife species — specifically soccer, rugby, and baseball shoes made by defendant Adidas. The decision was hailed by animal rights groups for setting a precedent allowing states to protect species that the federal government no […]

Or orange. Or yellow. Or blue

I usually don’t pay much attention to ads, but I happened to notice this banner advertising the new Dell Inspiron laptops that come in eight different colors. It’s interesting that the marketing execs would think to use the concept in a national ad campaign — that "green" is so part of the collective consciousness and […]

Who are the people in your neighborhood, and what have they got to lend?

I don’t actually have a question to respond to this week, so … pretend like somebody asked something. Remember back when people actually used to stop by their neighbor’s house and ask for a cup of sugar? OK, neither do I. Actually, the other day my boyfriend’s neighbor came over and asked to borrow some […]

Will you take it?

So, Reuters took a look at the EPA’s economic analysis of the Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act (so I didn’t have to!). In case your memory is hazy, the CSA is a cap-and-trade bill that would cut emissions 65% by 2050. Here’s the nut: The EPA found that the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007 […]

Making electricity visible helps reduce consumption

Here's what might be an ingenious idea, as reported by Wired: