Latest Articles

The Good Phyto

Global warming affects ocean’s tiny plants, which could affect global warming Proving that big things do come in small packages, researchers say global warming could hobble the teeniest marine organisms, phytoplankton — which could, in turn, lead to more warming. Whuh-huh? Well, these wee plants not only make a tasty sea snack, they provide a […]

Plumb Crazy

U.S. EPA considers delisting lead as an air pollutant That sound you hear? It’s jaws dropping everywhere in response to the U.S. EPA’s announcement that it might stop regulating lead as an air pollutant. Citing the fact that concentrations of the toxic heavy metal in the air have dropped 90 percent since 1980, and using […]

Friends in Flow Places

U.S. Interior lets oil-industry royalties slip away, investigation says An eight-month investigation by the U.S. Interior Department’s inspector general reveals that Big Oil may be skirting millions of dollars in annual gas and oil royalties while Interior officials grease the skids. Some of the juicier findings: officials said they’d reviewed 72 percent of revenues from […]

The ethanol game

Here is an article I found in the Renewable Energy Access bulletin asking for further government subsidization of cellulosic ethanol so it can compete with other subsidized biofuels.

It gave me an idea. I looked up some statistics to see how much oil the Prius fleet has saved and compared it to how much ethanol is consumed. Turns out that the 500,000 Priuses sold save about five to seven times more oil annually than all of the corn ethanol consumed in the United States.

The enduring attraction of apocalyptic predictions

I'm sure I'll eventually forgive Toby Hemenway at Energy Bulletin for writing -- before I did, and better than I could have -- a cogent and eloquent analysis of the apocalyptic bent of those concerned with peak oil. His piece should be read by environmentalists not obsessed with peak oil as well.

An excerpt:

Educating housewives

Treehugger TV's Simran Sethi was on Oprah for a short segment yesterday in a show devoted to global warming. Al Gore was on as well, and in passing Oprah referred to him as "our Noah" on global warming.

That really irritated Rush Limbaugh, and anything that chafes that dyspeptic old druggie pervert gasbag sounds like an unqualified success to me. Kudos.

The video of Sethi is below the fold.

Got biofuel resources or questions? Let us know

The thing we discovered while researching our biofuels series is this: there's no end of freakin' information on this ever-evolving topic.

We've put together a glossary and a resources page for you, our dear readers, but we know they are by definition incomplete.

In fact, we heard yesterday from reader Kate McMahon, a research assistant with Friends of the Earth, who let us know about a beta version of an online biofuels database she's building. She'd love your help reviewing it -- check it out.

We know there's a teeming underworld of biofuels info out there. That's why we want your questions and suggestions. Got info? Puzzling over a perplexing term? Starting a biodiesel co-op in your garage? Let us know here.

Two great tastes that taste great together!

If y'all want to do something nice for Grist without, you know, spending any money, you could bookmark GoodSearch as your main search site (or install the toolbar widget on your browser). Tell it to remember Grist as your charity of choice. Each time you search, half the resulting ad-sale revenue goes to us. Easy breezy and oh so sweet!

Of course, we are in the midst of a fundraiser, so you could spend some old-fashioned cash too. The phrase has become hackneyed from overuse, but it is nonetheless true: we depend on your generosity to keep going. Despite the bling-bling you see on the site every day, we are in fact a perpetually broke non-profit. Our wee staff runs like a crack-smoking gerbil on its media wheel 10 hours a day. Give us some nice gerbil food, won't you?

How cash and corporate pressure pushed ethanol to the fore

… got all liquored on that road house corn … — Tom Waits, “Gun Street Girl” Before it became widely used as a car fuel, ethanol was just grain liquor — and the federal government was not particularly kind to it. We pledge allegiance to ADM. Shortly after the American Revolution, the new government imposed […]

Barbara Boxer is sweet talking us

Man oh man, I sure do like what I'm hearing from incoming Senate EPW Committee chair Barbara Boxer.

There's this: