Latest Articles

A dairy giant does the right thing

Erstwhile Gristmiller Sam Fromartz, true to form as an ex-reporter, has breaking news on his personal blog. Sam reports that Dean Foods, the dominant U.S. dairy supplier (you can find a list of its many brands here) has decided not to accept milk from cloned cows, despite recent USDA approval of the stuff. This is […]

McCain:

I’m not Bush! Update [2007-2-22 17:8:54 by David Roberts]: Hilarious. Check out ThinkProgress to see how the right-wing blogs have responded to McCain’s criticism of Bush on climate change. He’s joined the majority of people in the world loony left!

Debate shifting post-IPCC report

With the release of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report, the debate over climate change has noticeably shifted from arguments about the reality of human-induced climate change to a debate over how to address the problem.

For example, here on Gristmill an interesting debate has broken out over whether a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system is best to price carbon emissions (e.g., here or here or here). This is exactly the kind of thing we need to be debating, and I'm glad to see it.

Must one do business with ADM?

Responding to my latest critique of Archer Daniels Midland and its business practices, a reader writes in to ask, “If I want to stop supporting ADM when grocery shopping, is there a list somewhere of what products to avoid buying?” That’s a great question. The short answer is, the best way to stiff ADM is […]

How Archer Daniels Midland cashes in on Mexico’s tortilla woes

Much has been made in the U.S. press about Mexico’s “tortilla crisis” — the recent spike in the price of its definitive corn-based flatbread. Media reports tend to focus blame on U.S. ethanol production, which has surged over the past year, causing the global price of corn to double. The situation stoked the food vs. […]

Can a carbon tax neutralize new carbon emitters?

At the Carbon Tax Center, we're forever on the lookout for new and outsized ways in which Americans are using energy. Too often, today's novelty item is just a clever marketing campaign away from tomorrow's sizable carbon emitter. Witness high-definition televisions, or Jet Skis.

If history is a guide, efficiency standards to govern new devices' fuel consumption won't be promulgated until after they have proliferated -- if ever. Carbon taxes, in contrast, could help rein in new products' energy requirements from the get-go, i.e., in the design stage. Where a product has little redeeming social value, the price signals from a carbon tax might even keep it from gaining a toehold in the culture.

These thoughts came to mind when we read an article in The New York Times (sub. rq.) last week about suburbia's latest must-have energy-guzzlers: home snowmaking machines.

Seriously

Commentary seems unnecessary: (hat tip: mean green dean machine)

First thoughts after the Global Green USA pre-Oscar party

Got back to Santa Barbara late last night early this morning from the Global Green USA pre-Oscar party in L.A. and am officially running on organic coffee fumes. Here are a few first impressions of a very eventful night:

• Using celebrities to lure hundreds of people with large disposable incomes into a club showcasing solar panels, natural carpets, and other sustainable building materials -- Global Green USA president Matt Petersen is a frickin' genius!


• Unfortunately, I don't fit into the "large disposable income" category. Do you think it's too early to ask for a Tesla sports car for Christmas?


• Chevy Chase thinks green carpets are cooler than red ones.


• Never got all tingly for Orlando Bloom until last night when he showed up with a new spiky haircut. Keep it up, Orlando -- keep it up.

Stay tuned; a more fulsome post to come.

The Land of Electric Enchantment

Tesla Motors to build electric-car plant in New Mexico In April, electric-car start-up Tesla Motors will break ground on a manufacturing plant in Albuquerque, which beat out Flagstaff, Ariz., and Pittsburg, Calif., for the honor. The plant will churn out 10,000 WhiteStar sedans a year starting in 2009 — “zero-emission” cars that will go 250 […]

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