Latest Articles

Heifer Madness

Thanks to booming dairy biz, cows out-pollute cars in California valley In California’s San Joaquin Valley, air-quality regulators are squaring off against the area’s lucrative dairy industry over cow gas: Each dairy cow in the valley emits nearly 20 pounds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) a year, according to official estimates. (Sadly, more of the […]

Too Many CNOOCs Spoil the Broth

Chinese oil firm withdraws takeover bid for Unocal State-owned Chinese oil company CNOOC has announced the withdrawal of its $18.5 billion offer for Unocal, clearing the way for rival bidder Chevron Corp. — which, we rush to assure you, is safely ‘merican owned — to purchase America’s ninth-largest producer of oil. CNOOC, China’s largest offshore […]

Ha-ha-ha-HA-ha!

Ivory-billed woodpecker skeptics recant, gush about sound recordings “It’s all moot at this point; the bird’s here.” So says Mark B. Robbins, one of the trio of skeptical scientists who had questioned the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker after the species had long been assumed extinct. What changed their minds? The bird’s call. They had […]

We Double-Dog Dare You!

Donate to Grist and you could win a Global Warming Survival Kit When we ask y’all for money, we feel like Ralphie. We’re all, “We want the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!” And you’re all, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.” But we won’t! We know how to use smart environmental […]

Meet the world’s first hybrid-cab driver

Like any self-respecting cabbie, Andrew Grant has a talent for small talk. But when the conversation turns to his prized 2004 Toyota Prius, things get a bit more animated. Andrew Grant. “Gave Cameron Diaz a lift once,” he says matter-of-factly, leading me toward the Vancouver curb where the curvaceous car is parked. “Oh, yeah? What […]

Energy bill supporters

Hey look, I found some expressions of support for the energy bill. See if you can discern a theme.

Umbra on utility carts

Dear Umbra, I live less than a half-mile from a supermarket, and prefer to do my errands by foot. Any thoughts on where I could buy a top-of-the-line utility cart? I’m willing to pay a premium for something lightweight, smooth-rolling, stable, foldable, and durable (or if not durable, then easy to recycle when it breaks!). […]

“Quiet places are the think tank of the soul.”

Here's an interesting story in the Seattle Times about a professional sound recorder struggling to preserve the little quiet spot he found in Olympic Nat'l Park.

Uninterrupted natural quiet is so rare Hempton thinks many people under the age of 30 have never heard it. "Whenever someone tells me they know a quiet place, I figure they have an undiagnosed hearing impairment, or they weren't really listening. Most people believe they know what natural quiet is, but they have not had the experience; it is not the same thing as sitting in an empty theater, a church, a library.

"We spend our lives in containers. Cars. Buildings. Planes. Natural quiet is in open, living space. It's alive."

Technology could be used to monitor wildlife preserves

As this story in the Seattle Times suggests, the effectiveness of a wildlife refuge is directly linked to how well you can protect what is inside it: "... an international black market ... fuels the illegal slaughter of an estimated 500 eagles each year in southwest British Columbia alone, and an unknown number in Washington state."

Many nature preserves around the world have little or no protection, making them essentially worthless as preserves. There are not enough funds to hire an army of forest rangers to be everywhere all the time. The biggest problem with any system that relies on guys randomly driving around in pickup trucks is that 99.9% of the time nothing is happening, and when something does happen, it happens where the rangers aren't. Preventing poachers from killing hundreds of eagles is better than prosecuting them after the fact.

Maybe we should be using technology to protect the planet instead of destroy it? Like E.O. Wilson once said:

The race is now on between the technoscientific forces that are destroying the living environment and those that can be harnessed to save it.

Milenko Matanovic, community-based planner, answers questions

Milenko Matanovic. What work do you do? I run a nonprofit organization called Pomegranate Center. We specialize in involving people in creating gathering places, thereby integrating art into the fabric of the community. We help develop plans for neighborhoods that are safe, humane, environmentally excellent, and filled with character. I founded Pomegranate Center in 1986 […]