Articles by David Roberts
David Roberts was a staff writer for Grist. You can follow him on Twitter, if you're into that sort of thing.
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What's behind Newt Gingrich's proposal to abolish the EPA?
Everyone on the internets is busy mocking Newt Gingrich's call to abolish the EPA. And that is as it should be -- I would never ask anyone to stop mocking Newt Gingrich. Rarely has the universe mixed pomposity and dimwittery into such an exquisitely mockworthy package. I do want to note, however, that what Gingrich is trying to pull off is not just old-fashioned Republican-style "leave corporate polluters alooooone!" Don't get me wrong: Newt wants to remove constraints on polluters! But he knows (unlike his buddies in Congress) that such a baldly retrograde position will not be popular with the public, which actually likes clean air. So he needs some kind of alternative. That's why he's proposing to replace the EPA with something called the Environmental Solutions Agency.
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Carol Browner is leaving: does it matter?
President Barack Obama's top energy and climate change adviser will step down in the coming weeks. Was there any reason for her to stay?
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Obama's State of the Union: what he should say but won't
The best climate hawks can hope for from Obama over the next two years is to defend the EPA. Here's what he should say about it in his State of the Union.
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Friday music blogging: best music of 2010
Ever since 2001, I've engaged in the annual ritual of assembling a two-CD mix of the last year's best new music. (Kids, let me translate: two 80-minute playlists, both of which fit exactly on the kind of "compact disc" your parents used to listen to.) This year's is rather late, but it's finally done.
