Latest Articles

A debate on water privatization, part one

Everyone knows that water is the stuff of life. But is it best viewed as a commodity or as part of the commons? Should providing safe, affordable water be the role of governments, corporations, or partnerships between the two? On Tuesday, July 13 (dates may vary for local stations), the PBS show P.O.V. is airing […]

Guns and Butterflies

Mexican Butterfly Forest Site of Battle Over Deforestation Mexico’s most famous national park, the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, is home to a 10,000-year-old evergreen forest where huge clouds of orange and gold Monarch butterflies migrate each year from the U.S. and Canada. The forest is also the site of rampant crime, deforestation, and armed battles […]

Readers sound off on eco-jobs, old growth, and more

  Kicking Peterson’s Tongass Re: Shake Dat Tongass Dear Editor: U.S. Representative John Peterson (R-Penn.), who commented that old-growth forests don’t support the kind of wildlife he and his fellow hunters like, is right. That’s because they live in Pennsylvania where (presumably) their prey is the White-tailed deer, a species that thrives on the edges […]

An abandoned Brooklyn warehouse heralds the onset of hipster environmentalism

Thinking outside the loft. Catch the aboveground S train in Brooklyn and you’ll whiz through the neighborhood of Crown Heights, an industrial pocket of warehouses and factories that once stored and manufactured everything from artillery to pickle jars. These days, the buildings you pass appear to be abandoned relics in a bleak concrete landscape. But […]

Public Disservice Announcement

New EPA Ad Mocks Car Energy Efficiency Automobile fuel efficiency is for losers! This message brought to you by, believe it or not, the U.S. EPA. A new series of public service announcements from the agency feature a woman, Suzanne, praising the benefits of energy-efficient home furnishings and appliances. So far, so good. However, the […]

Japan-Ease

Japan Weathers High Oil Prices With Energy Efficiency The high price of oil has many countries — including the U.S. — casting about for ways to lower the cost, increase domestic production, or find alternative energy sources, lest economic ruin ensue. But according to some analysts, one country that’s almost entirely dependent on foreign oil […]

Dispensing With the Peasantries

Electricity Comes to Rural China China’s economy is exploding, with consequences that may only be understood decades from now. In addition to massive hydropower ventures — like the $25 billion Three Gorges Dam — the government is encouraging smaller hydro projects, which are bringing electricity to southwestern rural villages where life has scarcely changed for […]

Don’t Hiatus Because We’re Beautiful

Grist on a Two-Week Publishing Hiatus Astute readers will have noticed our abject failure to say anything even remotely funny in today’s Daily Grist and wondered, “What’s up?” What’s up is, our lil’ staff badly needs some R&R. Luckily, that’s just what we’ll be taking for the next two weeks. We’ll be back — keeping […]

Advice on buying aquarium fish

Dear Umbra, I’m an elementary school teacher and I’d like to get a pet fish for my classroom, but I’ve heard tales of such fish being caught by eco-egregious means: dynamite blasting, cyanide dumping, etc. How can I make sure I’m getting happy, healthy, sustainably caught fish for my aquarium? Ginger Dearest Ginger, Is nothing […]

Un-Cheneyed Melody

Supreme Court Sends Cheney Energy Task Force Case Back to Lower Court In a clear political victory for the White House, today the U.S. Supreme Court set aside a ruling that would have forced Vice President Dick Cheney to turn over all the records from his energy task force. In a 7-2 ruling, the Supremes […]