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  • Umbra on eco-choices

    Dear Umbra, While I usually love your column, I have to take issue with encouraging people to eat sushi. This is the second “green” site I have seen that proposes the solution to overfishing is to eat different fish. Saying “of course you can continue to eat at sushi restaurants without feeling guilty” amounts to […]

  • Wow

    Longest ... Daily Grist ... ever.

  • John Dingell talks to Grist about climate change, fuel economy, and the 110th Congress

    Meet the man who may determine the fate of climate policy in the next two years: Rep. John Dingell. The formidable Democrat from Michigan, now 80, has served 51 years in the House of Representatives — the second-longest of any congressional career in history. During that time, he played a key role in pushing through […]

  • Readers write in about factual boo-boos, fish-eating fish lovers, and more

      Re: The Great White Hopeless Dear Editor: The closing line (“The baiji thus receives the dubious posthumous award for being the first large aquatic mammal to be killed off by human activity”) in your recently published story on the baiji is incorrect. Ever heard of the Steller’s sea cow? Thanks, Bob Grant New York, […]

  • Giving a whole new meaning to bird lady

    Part rooftop birdhouse, part funky science experiment, and part architectural marvel, Natalie Jeremijenko has created an urbanized playground for birds in Manhattan. View her work and listen to her take on "interactive collective" environmentalism.

  • So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, Thank You

    Grist winds down for a holiday break Before we say toodle-oo for the holidays, we must extend a ginormous and heartfelt thank you to all of the readers who donated during our recent fundraising appeal. We raised more than $62,000, considered spending it all on organic eggnog, then wisely decided to invest in more — […]

  • Particulate Shot

    EPA sued over particulate standards The U.S. EPA has gotten itself sued once again this week, this time by 13 states and the District of Columbia that are pissed off about lenient soot-emission standards. The backstory: EPA analysis has found that reducing soot emissions by a relatively small amount could prevent 24,000 premature deaths a […]

  • Cease Fire

    Coast Guard will cease target practice at Great Lakes In a win for lovers of safety and the environment, the U.S. Coast Guard has withdrawn a plan to conduct machine-gun firing practice in the Great Lakes. After much complaining from boaters, Canadians, congressfolk, local mayors, and other sane people opposed to toxic lead bullets flying […]

  • This Rocks Our Sox Off

    Boston will require new large buildings to meet green building standards Hooray, Boston: The city is soon expected to require that all new construction projects of 50,000 square feet or more meet green building standards. Projects will be required to follow at least 26 of about 70 suggestions for green design and construction, similar to […]

  • ‘Volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans’–Not even close …

    (Part of the How to Talk to a Global Warming Skeptic guide)

    Objection: One decent-sized volcanic eruption puts more CO2 in the atmosphere than a decade of human emissions. It's ridiculous to think reducing human CO2 emissions will have any effect.

    Answer: Not only is this false, it couldn't possibly be true given the CO2 record from any of the dozens of sampling stations around the globe. If it were true that individual volcanic eruptions dominated human emissions and were causing the rise in CO2 concentrations, then these CO2 records would be full of spikes -- one for each eruption. Instead, such records show a smooth and regular trend.


    (image from Global Warming Art)