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Latest Articles

  • And other words from readers

      Re: Greening the Elephant Dear Editor: The story about Martha Marks’s efforts to build Republicans for Environmental Protection is a good reminder of why some of us oldies wax nostalgic for the Good Old Days. She is right that the real Republicans used to be wonderful conservationists, with a string of landmark laws to […]

    Grist staff Uncategorized

  • The Endangered Endangered Species Act

    The federal Endangered Species Act is so cash-strapped that it is effectively “broken,” the Interior Department announced yesterday. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service blamed the financial trouble on the act’s “critical habitat” provision, which requires federal agencies to consult with the USFWS before embarking on any activity in areas set aside for wildlife recovery. […]

    Grist staff Politics

  • Hunger Strike

    The backlash has begun against President Bush’s comment last week that a European Union ban on genetically modified (GM) foods is contributing to world hunger. The reality, critics say, is that the dispute over GM crops is an international agricultural battle with billion-dollar stakes, and that concern about famine in the developing world is a […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • Take This Job and SUV It

    Golden State senators will no longer be allowed to use SUVs to tool around their districts, if the president pro tem of the California senate gets his way. Most lawmakers in California lease their vehicles at the state’s expense; now, Sen. John Burton (D) wants to ban the lease of SUVs to protect the environment […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Advice on driving vs. flying

    Hi Umbra, I’m wondering if you have any numbers comparing the fuel efficiency of flying versus driving the average car for the same distance. Also, how does carbon dioxide production compare for the same trip? SteveLoomis, Calif. Dearest Steve, Flight blight? Here’s what I can find so far, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Institute in […]

    Ask Umbra® Ask Umbra

  • Umbra on scooters

    Dear Umbra, I was thinking of buying a scooter with the idea that (in addition to being fun) I would be using a more fuel-efficient means of transportation on days when the weather was good. Then I got the edition of the Daily Grist telling me how dirty motorcycles are. Now I’m worried: Are scooters […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Umbra on motorcycles

    Dear Umbra, I recently read a claim that “motorcycles produce far more pollution per mile than your typical car, truck, or SUV.” Is that true? I’ve got a friend who’s currently making her (bad-ass) way across country on a Harley — 60 mpg, baby — and we are both curious about the environmental impacts compared […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Tulun: Too Late?

    The tiny islands of Tulun and Takuu off the coast of Papua New Guinea are being swallowed by the Pacific Ocean, posing a danger so immediate that their 2,400 residents are being urged to evacuate at once. The islands, also known as Carteret and Mortlock, could become victims of global warming, which is thought to […]

    Grist staff Uncategorized

  • Umbra on minivans

    Dear Umbra, We have a six-year-old daughter, a three-year-old daughter, and — surprise! (well, not completely) — a new baby girl due in the next two months. Our fuel-efficient car cannot fit two car seats and a booster across the back seat, and according to Washington state law (“six-years-old and 60 pounds”), my petite six-year-old […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • The rebuilt World Trade Center complex could be a model of sustainable building

    Early one morning last month, over fresh-squeezed orange juice and silver platters of breakfast treats, a coterie of New York’s leading architects, developers, politicians, and environmentalists convened in a chandeliered room at the Embassy Suites hotel in lower Manhattan for a conference entitled “Greening Our Downtown.” The keynote speaker was Gov. George Pataki (R), who […]

    Amanda Little Cities