Latest Articles

Why canvassing no longer works

A while back, Nathan Wyeth wrote a Soapbox for Grist about the crappiness of green-group canvassing operations. It kicked off quite a discussion.

If you're interested in the subject, Dana Fisher has a good piece on it at The American Prospect:

Grasping at Straw

Alternative fabrics hit the action-sports market Surf’s up, dude — and so is action-sports apparel makers’ interest in alternative fabrics. (OK, that was a stretch.) Clothes made from organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, and even recycled plastic bottles are hitting the action-sports apparel market. Sustainability will “definitely be the next big wave,” says the oh-so-punny Don […]

San Joaquin Phoenix

Dead San Joaquin River will be revived More than 60 miles of California’s dead, sandy San Joaquin River may yet run with water and salmon again, as enviros and farmers have settled an 18-year legal battle over the river’s fate. Based on a new 20-year, $250-to-$800 million restoration plan, agricultural water diversion from the river […]

You Can’t Always Nyet What You Want

Russia plans enormous sports complex near pristine national park Hoping to strengthen its bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the Russian government has approved an $11.3 billion project to turn areas of Sochi National Park into a ginormous winter-sports complex. The park is home to 300 endemic plant species and a variety of endangered flora […]

Wigley Room

Spewing sulfur dioxide into atmosphere could slow warming, says research On earth, sulfur dioxide contributes to acid rain and harms human hearts and lungs — but if injected into the stratosphere, says new research in Science, it could shade the sun’s rays and keep global warming at bay. Hey, if volcanoes can spew it, why […]

You are now entering science fiction land …

Sometimes life in the 21st century feels like a weird science fiction movie -- one so unnerving it's difficult to distinguish reality from nightmare.

Here are some science fiction-y nightmares well-known scientists, writers, and bloggers brought forward this week:

And why is it still around?

Why isn't it the 21st century's spray-on deodorant?

Let me explain, and meet me after the jump.

And it’s OK to support Cali’s Prop 87

Prop 87 is a California ballot initiative that would tax oil drilling in the state, and use the money to reduce petroleum usage. Passage is by no means assured, as the opposition is incredibly well-funded.

Here, sometime Gristblogger Ana Unruh Cohen writes a rebuttal to Robert Rapier, one of the measure's critics.

To her many fine points, I would also add one more.

Canadian climate change challenger taking it to court

Rather than, you know, letting science decide this sort of stuff, Canada's most well-known climate-change skeptic is taking opponents to court.

The case revolves around a letter to the editor that he claims was a "malicious attack" on his credibility.

Tim Ball has made a name for himself as an outspoken challenger to the overwhelmingly accepted (especially in Canada) consensus that humans are causing global climate change. He authored an opinion piece on global warming for the Calgary Herald last April which drew at least one letter to the editor questioning his credentials.

Interview with J. Matthew Sleeth

It's a bit late to ask, but tomorrow morning early I'll be speaking with J. Matthew Sleeth, author of Serve God, Save the Planet, a book calling on Christians to renew their responsibility as stewards of the earth.

What should I ask him?