Latest Articles

Who’ll win the coveted Flat Earth Award?

We chuckled when Bill McKibben mentioned the new Flat Earth Award on this site in January, and now we're positively whooping with anticipatory glee. The winner of the prize -- which was devised by a handful of Middlebury students to spotlight a public figure in deeeeeeep denial of global warming -- will be announced next week. The three nominees are: oh-no-he-didn't author Michael Crichton; oh-yes-he-did gasbag Rush Limbaugh; and oh-give-me-a-break naysayer Fred Singer. So go on, cast your vote now, and give one of these fatheads -- uh, flatheads -- his due!

P.S. Got any thoughts about who else should have been nominated? We're all ears.

A Prius With Mayo, Hold the Mayo

Fledgling California bill calls for new sales outlets for hybrids Ever wished you could get a five-pound jar of mayonnaise and a Toyota Prius at the same convenient location? Uh, let us explain. California drivers are crazy for hybrids; dealerships in the state have months-long waiting lists, presumably because demand is greater than supply. But […]

Quibbles and Bits

New strategies aim to limit drilling impact in Western U.S. As pressure mounts from greens and the hook-and-bullet crowd to slow the pace of energy development in the American West, some companies are moving to support conservation research and employ strategies to lessen their impact. One such method, called “directional drilling,” involves the use of […]

Getting Cross

Guatemalan Catholic church protests mining project Catholic Church officials in Guatemala have become unlikely activists in a fight against a major open-pit gold mine being carved out in the mountains near San Miguel Ixtahuacan. Speaking from the pulpit, on a church-owned radio station, and during street demonstrations, church leaders have been educating parishioners, most of […]

You Won’t Find a Lower-Priced Greenwash — We Guarantee!

Wal-Mart pledges to buy and preserve land to compensate for footprint Retail leviathan Wal-Mart, stung by a spate of bad press accusing it of sprawling consumption of open spaces, excessive storm-water runoff at construction sites, discrimination against women, employment of illegal immigrants, ruthless price-cutting strategies that drive jobs abroad, and shabby treatment of employees … […]

As Albania gears up to join the E.U., toxic troubles get in the way

It’s easy enough to find the dump in Tirana, the fast-growing capital of Albania: just follow the trail of noxious smoke. Overdeveloped and under-regulated, Albania faces a sea of troubles. Photo: albaniafoto.com For 11 years, this city of 700,000 has been dumping its waste in a suburban field five miles southwest of the center, forming […]

The new coalition of national security types and greens promising.

Hello, Gristmill readers. I'm very excited that Dave has asked me to do some guest blogging here, as Grist is my favorite environmental magazine and I'm thrilled that Gristmill is asking good questions and reaching out to other bloggers and publications. As I told Dave via email, I used to blog about environmental topics on the now-defunct American Footprint, before I got distracted by terrorism and American policy in the Greater Middle East.

Always in the back of my mind, however, has been the conviction that environmental and in particular energy issues aren't getting enough attention, and that they are deeply intertwined with our national security. Our current national complacency is, in the long run (or even in the short run!), going to make us less prosperous and less safe. I'm by no means a policy expert, an economist, a scientist, or a defense strategist. I'm just a regular old blogger. But I do read a lot and what I read makes me very, very concerned that we aren't doing enough as a society to make the right choices. Because we do have choices, and we are at a clear fork in the road.

There have been a number of developments recently that, in my humble opinion, offer great hope. The first is that the American public, by and large, is well aware of its growing dependence on imported oil. This is more true when pump prices are high, as they are now (and may well be indefinitely). The second is that several powerful new groups--defense hawks, unions, big business, and evangelical Christians--are starting to make noises that they, too, want to push for change, and push hard.

And that's a good thing.

Traditional environmental activists (assuming there is such an identifiable group) should warmly welcome their support, because we're going to need it. They've got big megaphones and beelines to important centers of power. I don't expect all of the factions of this emerging coalition to get along all of the time. Some compromises may need to be made in order to keep everyone on board. But the conversation and the jostling and the disagreement about strategy and tactics are ultimately a source of strength, because the more debate the broader public hears, the better. And those folks know how to win converts to their causes, and no doubt have many lessons to impart. Let's play this game to win.

Battle over immigration policy returns in this month’s board election

They're back! Rabble-rousing advocates of immigration restrictions are once again ruffling feathers at the Sierra Club.

With the group's 750,000 members now voting in their annual election (polls close April 25; members go here to vote), the immigration critics are pushing a slate of four like-minded board candidates and a "yes" vote on a population ballot measure, which reads:

 

Shall the Sierra Club policy on immigration, adopted by the Board of Directors in 1999 and revised in 2003, be changed to recognize the need to adopt lower limits on migration to the United States?

And isn’t that the best kind?

Is the Cape Cod Times editorial board in the pocket of big anti-wind groups?! Are they skewing and suppressing news coverage in service of their rabid anti-wind bias!?

!!!???

Yes, these are matters of minimal national import, but they do provide some fun drama. Jack Coleman says he left the Times after getting sick of the increasing slant of its news coverage against Cape Wind, the big wind project planned for Nantucket Sound. Apparently the editors are allied with the ruthless Alliance to Save Nantucket Sound. The hoo-ha even reached the Boston Globe.

I can't say I've been tracking the trials and tribulations of Cape Wind that closely, but everything I've seen leads me to the same conclusion: This is a group of privileged upper-crust aristocrats perfectly willing to advocate for sacrifice on the part of, say, Michigan auto workers, but who react with umbrage when their precious views and sailing waters might have to be part of the solution. Maybe a commenter can explain to me why this is not what it seems.

Vote early and often!

Grist has been nominated for a Webby award in the "magazine" category. Webbys are the Internet Oscars. You know it's true, cause their site says so!

Seriously, though, it's a cool thing, and to be nominated alongside Consumer Reports and Alternet, well, it's downright heady.

So please, all you Gristers: head over and vote for Grist.

(Yes, you have to register to vote. And yes, it's a pain. But you love us that much, right?)