Latest Articles
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Burning through the wood
Pardon my prolonged absence. I've been sleeping in a tent for the past five days. I wrote a piece about this annual event last year, so rather than rehash the adventure, you can go here and read about it. The only thing different this year were the lightning storms that set off a forest fire. Helicopters were lifting water to fight it from a nearby lake. I have also been busy finishing up a set of house plans for a two-story addition. My client wanted to use structural integrated panels (SIPS) for the exterior walls and roof because they have twice as much insulation as a conventional 2 x 6 wall and use half as much framing lumber. The idea was that by using these panels, along with engineered lumber (PDF) for the beams, posts, and floor joists, we would save energy and trees at the same time. But, like everyone else, my client also wanted lots of big windows, a cathedral ceiling, views, and cavernous space.
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Now Will You Help Us Unpack?
Grist loves readers, readers love Grist. Mwahhh! From our new office, we have a view of Seattle’s two sports stadiums. And we’ll tell you what: put together, they’re still not big enough to contain our immense gratitude to those who donated during our recent fundraiser — and to all of you for putting up with […]
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Putting Green
Venerable golf group launches sustainability campaign It’s easy to vilify golfers — really! try it! — but we’ve gotta give them credit: some 2,000 golf courses in 100 countries have joined a campaign that urges them to use less water, plant drought-tolerant grasses, cut out pesticides, and replace sand with recycled glass. This campaign for […]
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Hap, Hap, Hooray!
Snowmobilers and enviros craft compromise plan for wilderness in California A deal to set aside thousands of acres of wilderness near Yosemite National Park has been crafted by an odd alliance of snowmobilers, greens, and local officials. By agreeing to stay off 40,000 acres of public land, snowmobilers would receive unfettered winter access to 11,000 […]
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Range of Notion
Grass banks aim to protect prairies and help ranchers Hoping to preserve both the prairie and the livelihoods of ranchers, green groups like The Nature Conservancy have created “grass banks” by buying up land and allowing ranchers to graze there for cheap. In exchange, ranchers agree to conserve habitat on their own land for ferrets, […]
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Aw, Shucks
Ethanol ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, new study says A new study casts serious doubt on ethanol’s status as a green wonder-fuel. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers lay out a series of grim findings about corn-based biofuel. Runoff from large-scale corn cultivation contaminates waterways with nitrogen, phosphorus, and […]
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Ex-GM employee responds on electric car
A man who claims to have worked for GM's Hughes division, which created the electric car, has responded to the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? on a usenet thread. He says:
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A smidgen more madness
Oh, what's that? You're still hankering for nuclear madness? OK, here's a digestif:
As the use of nuclear power expands, it will become increasingly ineffective at combating global warming, warns a report by an independent think tank published today.
The Oxford Research Group argues that a worldwide shortage of high-grade uranium ore will force new nuclear reactors to exploit increasingly lower-grade ores for their fuel. Because that requires more energy to extract, the process will result in ever-greater amounts of climate-wrecking pollution.
