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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Obama highlights efficiency in his network show
Everyone will have their own reaction Obama’s show on network TV tonight. I’ll just comment on one bit. As prelude, remember that a) efficiency is the fastest, cheapest, most economy stimulating and economy strengthening way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, b) every wonk in the world is obsessed with efficiency, c) reporters don’t understand it […]
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What mix of ignorance, ego, and incompetence explains Palin’s bizarre energy policy speech?
A few words on Palin’s energy speech, which I finally forced myself to read. I don’t really have words to express how bizarre this is. Where to begin? Why do a policy speech at this late date? Why is this better than a rally? Who is this supposed to be directed to? The base, who […]
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Fast Company publishes an unsparing take-down of green architect William McDonough
This month’s Fast Company has an expose on green architecture guru William McDonough. It is fairly brutal. McDonough’s come in for plenty of hero worship (no small amount of it from me), but as Danielle Sacks tells it, he’s a vainglorious name-dropper and celeb-schmoozer, prone to claiming credit beyond what he is due, devoted above […]
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The hidden costs of coal haven’t exactly been a secret
“But under any external-cost scenario, coal’s price advantage erodes. Natural gas becomes a more cost-efficient generating fuel, since it emits less sulfur. More important, renewable resources like geothermal energy, wind, and solar energy, at five to twelve cents per kilowatt hour, suddenly become competitive, because they carry few or none of the external costs associated […]