Latest Articles

Why are you, too, subsidizing corn ethanol?

The Globe and Mail, Canada's largest-circulation newspaper, ran an interview yesterday with Ken Field, chairman and majority owner of GreenField Ethanol, Canada's leading (corn-based) ethanol manufacturer. I will bite my tongue and refrain from comment. Let's just say that the interview says it all. And, as Dave Barry would no doubt feel compelled to add, "I swear I'm not making this up!"

Here's a selection:

Other people’s coverage

I didn’t get to watch the Waxman hearings on politicization of climate science today, and the whole rest of my day is jam-packed with meetings (urgh), so I probably won’t be able to go back and watch the video (is it even online?). Thus, I shall farm out coverage: Here’s the hearing web page, with […]

The heat is still on

Perhaps the most rewarding moment I witnessed at Sundance last week, after watching several post-screening Q&A’s with Everything’s Cool directors and stars, came on my last night in Utah. They’d just finished the film’s only screening in Salt Lake City, and the packed house had nearly all stayed for the rap session, armed with questions […]

The Airspeed Velocity of an Uneaten Swallow

Food imported by air may lose organic certification in Britain Foods imported into Britain by airplane may not qualify as organic if the country’s main certification body has its druthers. On Friday, the Soil Association announced it will spend a year considering a proposal to factor flight distance into its organic standards. While it will […]

They Put the Heat in Heath

Australian leaders suggest water recycling to address ongoing drought As evidenced by Heath Ledger, Australians are hot — so hot, in fact, that they’ve used up much of their water. As the state of Queensland suffers an ongoing drought, Premier Peter Beattie has warned that residents may soon be drinking recycled sewage water. Premiers of […]

Putting U Money Where U Mouth Is

U.S. colleges get schooled in sustainability Remember how report-card time brought a mix of emotions — excitement, anxiety, a little bit of vomit in your mouth? Oh, to be a student again. But last week, the tables were turned as 100 universities across the country were graded in a College Sustainability Report Card released by […]

Lettuce Eat Veggies

An occasional meat-eater faces the brutal truth Upon reading about the history of vegetarianism in the new tome The Bloodless Revolution, food writer and occasional meat-eater Tom Philpott wonders: will the consumption of sentient animals one day be widely denounced as immoral? It’s not inconceivable, he says — but for now, Americans eat a stunning […]

Fetch Me Another Rouge Taureau

Scientists, officials hash out climate report wording in Paris Call it the cram session from hell: about 500 scientists and officials are spending the week cooped up in Paris, undertaking a word-by-word edit of a major report on climate change. The first installment of the fourth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, due Friday, is […]

Eh, You’ll Be Fine

U.S. says some gray wolves no longer need Endangered Species Act protection The U.S. government announced yesterday that it will remove 4,000 gray wolves in the western Great Lakes area from Endangered Species Act protections and work to delist 1,200 others in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Canis lupus management in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin will […]

They’re not a silver bullet, but they generally work

The last few days have been rough for carbon offsets on Gristmill, with our own Gar Lipow launching several broadsides at the whole concept. Adam Stein over at TerraPass offered to reply to some of the criticisms. Naturally, Stein is an interested party, as TerraPass sells offsets, but he’s also a clever blogger, a smart […]