Latest Articles

Rich Westerners bypass gov’t to save rainforests

I have mixed feelings about these "conservation cowboys" — rich Westerners who tromp down South in pursuit of grandiose eco-preservation schemes. They possess immense amounts of discretionary capital and can often sidestep cumbersome, slow-moving government machinery. But there’s a tinge of colonialism about it. If they tread too heavily, I fear they’ll end up sparking […]

Dry As a Slightly Moist Bone

Aral Sea restoration project nets $126 million more from World Bank When is a sea not a sea? When it’s a desert. Over the last five decades, the inland Aral Sea — which straddles the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan — has shrunk to a fraction of its original size, thanks to Soviet policies that […]

The sorcerer’s apprentice running amok in ag?

Gene tampering (called "genetic modification" by the same people who call gambling "gaming" and sewer sludge "biosolids") is a terrible idea, said the "extreme environmentalists" who warned that, nature being what it is, it wouldn't be long before we would see invasive weed species adopting whatever characteristics we created.

Somehow, I don’t feel that bad for you

The latest impact of climate change: eco-anxiety. Symptoms: Generalized discomfort and stress related to the future of the world and possibly your personal role in said future. Ways to fight it: Blame “the media.” Blame the IPCC. Spend lots of money on an “eco-therapist.” Carry around minerals. Buy greener stuff to make yourself feel better. […]

Was It Something We Said?

Global warming and other woes cause rise of eco-anxiety The world already has ecotourism, eco-movies, and eco-purses — in fact, more eco-trends than you can shake an eco-stick at. So it was only a matter of time before another trapping of modern life took the prefix: eco-anxiety. Seems people are flocking to, yes, eco-therapists to […]

Maybe the Manatees Would Do Better in the Arctic

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers fate of two beloved critters The proposal to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act inspired more than 500,000 emails and oodles of snail mail before yesterday’s public-input deadline. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will read what could be a record number of comments; activists […]

Career Fields of Gold

An overview of the growing options for green-job seekers T.S. Eliot once wrote, “April is the cruelest month.” Not so for environmental-job seekers, says Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization. In fact, he says, this April could almost be certified “cruelty free.” In the latest installment of his recurring column for Grist, Doyle reviews […]

Another One Writes the Bust

Court rules against Bush administration’s fish-protection plan The Great Judicial Smackdown of 2007 continued this week, with a federal appeals court ruling that the Bush administration’s plan for “protecting” fish on the Northwest’s Columbia and Snake rivers violates the Endangered Species Act. The feds had claimed that the rivers’ hydroelectric dams could be made safe […]

A good time was had by … me

Just got back in town today. Not quite ready to jump back in the grind, so I’ll procrastinate a bit by talking about my vacation. We woke up Saturday morning(ish) to discover that quite literally across the street from the friend’s place where we were staying (on the east side of Fort Green Park) there […]

An overview of environmental careers experiencing growth

“April is the cruelest month,” T. S. Eliot wrote. Ha! What did he know? For environmental-job seekers in a host of fields, this April could almost be certified “cruelty free.” In no particular order, here’s a quick overview of green career areas experiencing growth right now: Wind Power and Solar Energy A 2007 report from […]