Articles by David Roberts

U.S. News & World Report hops on the bandwagon

There's nothing much new in it, but this U.S. News & World Report story on the evolving politics of climate change is yet more evidence that the subject is now squarely on the mainstream media's radar.

Grist nominated for Webby

Grist has been nominated for a Webby award in the magazine category. While the Webbys proper are decided by, uh ... who knows who, there are also the People's Choice awards, which y'all can vote for.

So if you haven't registered, register. And if you haven't logged in, log in. And if you haven't voted, go vote! (For us.)

And when you're done with that, register under a different email address and vote again!

Ha ha! No, no, I kid. That would be cheating. And nobody does that. After all, it would upset the highly scientific nature of these awards.

Anyway, go vote for us. I'll beg if I have to.

Big Oil and Big Auto get into a war of words

Writing on a private company blog directed at journalists and analysts, Chrysler's head spokesflack Jason Vines aimed the big guns at Big Oil:

Despite a documented history of blowing their exorbitant profits on outlandish executive salaries and stock buybacks, and hoarding their bounty by avoiding technologies, policies and legislation that would protect the population and environment and lower fuel costs, Big Oil insists on transferring all of that responsibility on the auto companies.

Yes, even though the automakers have spent billions developing cleaner, more efficient technologies such as high-feature engines, hybrid powertrains, multi-displacement systems, flexible fuel vehicles, and fuel cells, Big Oil would rather fill the pockets of its executives and shareholders, rather than spend sufficient amounts to reduce the price of fuel, letting consumers, during tough economic times, pick up the tab.

He goes on to blast oil companies for refusing to invest in new refineries, develop alternative fuels, or build alternative-fuel stations.

As we say in the journalist-and-analyst business: Oh, snap!

The vision thing

Over on Worldchanging, Alex addresses a subject that's dear to my heart, namely what George Bush Sr. famously called The Vision Thing.

He rightly points out that the kinds of solutions being discussed fall absurdly short of what's needed to avoid the worst of climate change. Scientists now say we need to cut global GHG emissions by 70 percent in the next decade or so; Kyoto would cut them by 5.5 percent, and it's the best we've got right now, and the U.S. hasn't ratified it, and the countries that have aren't meeting its targets.

This is to say nothing of the "change a light bulb and properly inflate your tires" school of solutions one often finds in mainstream media outlets.

Why the gap? Alex suspects, as do I, that what's missing is a clear vision: a picture of what a sustainable world would look like. (Regular readers will be familiar with my obsession with this topic.)