Latest Articles
-
We’re all going
So Texas Governor Rick Perry thinks all non-Christians are going to hell?
That's a bitter pill to swallow from someone who's doing everything he can to create hell on this earth.
-
Allen Johnson rallies Christians to fight against mountaintop-removal mining
Allen Johnson. As its not-at-all euphemistic name would indicate, mountaintop-removal mining makes no effort to disguise its impact. Coal-mining companies brazenly invade Appalachian communities, blow the tops off mountains, send massive coal trucks careening up and down narrow roads, spew coal dust into the air and mining waste into the water, and terrorize residents who […]
-
Who’s On First?
Officials in suburban Detroit point fingers over contaminated park You remember when Katrina hit, and officials spent their time blaming each other instead of helping people? This is sort of like that, only smaller, and with less wind. Unsuspecting families in a Detroit suburb have played in a contaminated county park for years while city, […]
-
Global warming in the Supreme Court
It's the first Tuesday in November. Election Day. As in years past, today I am a patriot. I feel hopeful that democracy will bring out the best in this nation's citizens and that tomorrow (or late tonight, huddled in front of my low-quality TV) I will witness political change and renew my belief that our politicians will pave (or plant) the way to a better future.
When I think about tomorrow's leaders, I hope (almost desperately) they will have the courage to tackle global warming. The courts are unlikely to be an adequate substitute.
For the past six years, our federal government has refused to do much of anything. The most daring step taken may have occurred in 2005, when the Senate passed an amendment to the Energy Policy Act expressing its "sense" that Congress should do something. This "sense" did not remain in the law's final version, and we have yet to see it translated into action.
In light of this systematic, breathtaking political failure, environmentalists have brought global warming into courtrooms across the country. This is new territory for the judiciary. To date, the U.S. Supreme Court has never so much as mentioned global warming or greenhouse gases in any of its decisions. However, the Justices are about to get their chance. On November 29th, as the dust settles from today's election, the Justices will hear Massachusetts v. EPA, which has pitted state against state (eleven states join Massachusetts, nine join EPA) and split the business community in two.
-
Deceivin’ Stephen
Canadians clamor for climate action while their leader ducks the issue Canadians are more concerned about the earth than at any time in the last 15 years, says a new poll. Some 26 percent feel the environment is more deserving of government attention than any other issue, and more than half of those polled would […]
-
Do You Zaire What I Zaire?
Africa already feeling effects of climate change, will be hit harder While some people question whether climate change is happening, many Africans are already beginning to feel its effects — and, says a new U.N. report, the continent is at greater risk than previously thought. Some 480 million Africans could face water-security issues by 2025 […]
-
Homeland Insecurity
World’s energy future looks dim, says new report A report issued today by the International Energy Agency says global demand for power could surge 53 percent by 2030 unless governments push clean, efficient energy. “The energy future we are facing today, based on projections of current trends, is dirty, insecure, and expensive,” says Claude Mandil, […]
-
Vote for Grist!
Our Election Day coverage offers hope and a blogging blitz Here at Grist, we love Election Day. There’s a certain buzz in the air, a feeling that all Americans face a united calling. Yeah, yeah, we know only 38.2 percent of Americans bother to vote — but we’re doing our dangedest to remain optimistic. So […]
-
College field program shows there’s more to citizenship than going to the polls.
Take a break from freaking out about the election and listen to this NPR audio clip about Whitman College's Semester in the West program. It's a biennial, semester-long environmental studies field course, with a heavy emphasis on public lands issues. If you have any passion about environmental issues, traveling, and/or camping, I guarantee this will make you want to go back to school.
(Grist featured Phil Brick, the professor in the story, as an InterActivist back in October 2005.)
I myself am an alumni of the program, and I'd say the audio clip is quite well done. It provides a good snapshot of what life is like during the semester and the kind of intellectual challenges students confront. As the narrator explains, students are "put face to face with people on all sides of complex issues. Students ask their own questions, and draw their own conclusions."
