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.
All Articles
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Steven Chu is a progressive environmentalist because he’s a good scientist
I’ve been reading the discussion sparked by Chris Hayes’ latest piece in The Nation — "The Pragmatist," about Obama’s much-discussed pragmatism — with interest. Pragmatism is a subject dear to my heart, something I studied in grad school, though the kind you study there and what goes by the name in political discussion bear little […]
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Why the much-ballyhooed utility decoupling is inadequate
I meant last week to note the extremely promising fact that Dems are talking about using the stimulus to funnel substantial money to states for energy efficiency projects — and tying that money to utility decoupling. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), in comments to the Northwest Energy Coalition earlier this month, said this is how it […]
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WaPo editorial reflects lazy resort to gas tax as answer to carbon troubles
The Washington Post has an editorial on the challenges of addressing global warming that contains this passage: To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lessen dependence on fossil fuels, there must be a price on carbon. A cap-and-trade system is the easiest way to integrate into an international regime, but its pitfalls are legion. A gas […]
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Obama touts new green energy economy while introducing green team
Obama just got done officially announcing his energy and environment team. A few things that jumped out at me: Not for nothing: the guy’s a rhetorical Jedi. Unless I’m mistaken, the term "clean coal" was not uttered once. Of Steven Chu, he said: "His appointment should send a signal to all that my Administration will […]