Latest Articles

Old MacDonald Had a Harm

Feds to review endangered-species decisions made by departed official Remember Julie MacDonald? The Bush appointee’s oversight of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ended with her abrupt resignation in May, after she was accused of overriding scientists’ recommendations in order to make decisions beneficial to industry and detrimental to endangered species. Now the Department of […]

Good Things Come to Those Who Relate

Greens should play up the optimism, says Peter Madden It’s a dilemma faced by every green: We know it’s more effective to focus on the positive when talking about environmental crises, but we consistently find ourselves stressing sacrifice and impending chaos instead. (Grist, with its “gloom and doom with a sense of humor” tagline, is […]

Just Call Us the Rainmakers

Study confirms connection between human activity and increased rainfall A study led by Canadian scientists shows that peeps have an effect on precip: “For the first time, climate scientists have clearly detected the human fingerprint on changing global precipitation patterns over the past century,” the team says. Comparing rainfall records from 1925 to 1999 against […]

Viva Zap

Canada, U.S., Mexico sign five-year energy pact Will an energy pact between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico pave the way for alternative fuels or grease the skids for business as usual? Maybe a little of both. The five-year agreement, signed yesterday by Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Gary Lunn, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, and […]

Lots of good answers

I haven’t watched all of the YouTube/CNN Democratic debate yet. Early reviews are good, and from what I’ve seen it was unusually substantive and spontaneous, but I agree with Josh Marshall that some of the cutesy videos tarnished the dignity of the proceedings a bit. There were three questions on energy and environment. How can […]

But what will it look like?

Sens. Lieberman (I) and Warner (R) are, as you may know, attempting to put together a global warming bill that can get through the Senate. They’re picking bits and pieces from all the other bills floating around. A hearing on Wed. Tues., with testimony from a variety of big money types, should reveal something about […]

Donuts!

If you’d rather skip the interminable food debate that’s been conducted a dozen times on this site and a gazillion times on the internet and a googol times in the world at large, I recommend proceeding directly to Mihan’s recipe for sweet potato bourbon buttermilk donuts. Now that’s some food news you can use!

Hillary pays tribute to Iowa politics

This is (bitterly) funny: As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton climbed onto a makeshift stage at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and embraced motor fuel from corn as a key to America’s future, she completed a turnabout from being an ethanol opponent, a position she held only two years ago. … Political observers view her about-face as […]

Regarding Badlands National Park

Last week, our InterActivist was Jarid Manos of the Great Plains Restoration Council. We received a letter today from the U.S. Department of the Interior, regarding a comment made by Manos. It’s below the fold. (Note: Manos is not actually Grist’s CEO, but the CEO of GPRC.) Dear Editor, I would like to clarify a […]

Celebrities among us

Who is that attractive couple getting married so greenly?!