Articles by David Roberts

Green blogs meet mainstream media, exchange kisses

If you read green blogs, you will no doubt see this linked on every single one today. Gregory Dicum (who occasionally contributes to Grist) writes a column on environmental matters for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Today's column is about the green blogosphere. Check it out.

Update [2006-3-22 9:45:35 by David Roberts]: Obviously I should clarify one thing, as apparently every single one of my colleagues plans to razz me about it. In the piece, it says, "Roberts is technically an employee of [Grist], although he says he has complete editorial freedom."

I chatted with the author of the piece, Gregory, over IM, so obviously nuances are going to get lost. But just to clarify: I am not "technically" an employee of Grist, I am entirely and happily an employee, working every day in the office alongside all the other talented, intelligent, and beautiful/handsome employees, and I do several things outside the purview of the blog. My comment about editorial freedom was meant as praise for my employers: They have shown me a great deal of trust and have never asked or pressured me to alter the content of the blog. Hooray for them! I am proud to technically work for them.

‘Eco-terrorism’: Cowards with ideals?

Three people indicted in connection with arsons in the Sacramento area were sentenced last Friday. Sisters Eva Holland and Lili Holland, portrayed by their lawyers as innocents caught up in a plot they didn't fully understand, were given two years apiece. The alleged ringleader, Ryan Lewis, was portrayed as a devoted follower of the ghostly Earth Liberation Front.

Ceres top 100 companies on climate change

Ceres has published a top-100 ranking of companies based on their climate-change strategies.

After years of inaction, a growing number of leading U.S. companies are confronting the business challenges from global warming, recognizing that greenhouse gas limits are inevitable and that they cannot risk falling behind their international competitors in developing climate-friendly technologies. Some U.S. companies, such as General Electric, are catching up and joining DuPont and Alcoa in leading their industries. But many others are still largely ignoring the climate issue with 'business as usual' strategies that may be putting their companies and shareholders at risk.

Here are the top "leaders and laggards":

Sector	Leaders	Laggards
Oil/Gas	BP (90 points)	ExxonMobil (35)
Chemical	DuPont (85)	PPG (21)
Metals/Mining	Alcan (77) & Alcoa (74)	Newmont (24)
Electric Power	AEP & Cinergy (both 73)	Sempra Energy (24)
Auto	Toyota (65)	Nissan (33)

(via Environmental Action)

Public Interest Watch sics IRS on Greenpeace

The sequence of events, as laid out in this Wall Street Journal story (sorry, sub. req.):