Articles by Grist staff

Not Management Material

BLM slacks on environmental monitoring in Wyoming For the past six years, the Bureau of Land Management has been slacking on its commitment to assess and limit the impact of natural-gas drilling on wilderness in western Wyoming, says, um, the Bureau of Land Management. A leaked internal assessment for the BLM’s Pinedale, Wyo., field office […]

Summit aims to ask experts your questions about the environment, other issues

Next week, 112 great minds will convene at the world's first international thought summit. The monumental undertaking [PDF] by nonprofit dropping knowledge is "dedicated to moving people from apathy to activity through the simple act of asking questions." The summit, Table of Free Voices, will take place in Berlin's historic Bebelplatz square Sept. 9 and will bring together experts from a wide range of fields to answer questions submitted in video form by the public.

Questions already culled by dropping knowledge range from the practical, "How can we discuss global problems when we do not know how to solve local ones?," to the environmental, "Will children grow up in an environmental wasteland?," to the emotional, "Are you scared?"

The questions chosen for the experts span eight global themes, including "The Human Footprint" -- which focuses on energy, ecology, and sustainable ways of life. Though it could be argued that all eight themes involve issues that affect the environment in some way.

Students could win 25K, Earth Day concert for ideas on greening campus

mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college network, and GE this week announced they are partnering to present college students with an eco-challenge. Their mtvU GE ecomagination Challenge asks students to get their creativity on to propose projects that will "green" their campuses. The winner of the challenge (which is open to teams and individuals) will receive $25,000 toward making those ideas happen. And the winner's school will host an mtvU Earth Day Concert and Festival in Spring 2007. If that won't boost your popularity around campus, I don't know what will.

Complete rules and regulations will be available starting tomorrow, but I do know that they will be accepting submissions until Dec. 1 and will then pick the top 10 entries. Those projects will be profiled on the Challenge website and some will be featured on various other mtvU outlets. Students will be able to play a part in the voting process, and the winner will be announced in March 2007.

Here's a tip from the press release: "mtvU and GE are especially looking for ambitious and innovative projects that considerably better the overall environmental health of campus, are cost conscious and practical, and push the creative boundaries of "green" thinking."

So get to thinking about how you can green your campus. And while you're at it, look around that dorm room of yours. A recent Philly Inquirer story notes that green decorating ideas seem to be taking hold at schools across the country. And this New American Dream site offers an interactive guide for shopping green when you head back to school this fall.

Florida manatee found in waters off Cape Cod

Ahoy me hearties! 'Tis I, back again from the briny deep. Me spyglass has been focused lately on Florida's favorite aquatic mammal: Shamu the manatee.

Seems at least one of the slow-moving "sea cows," which usually make their home off the Florida coast, has traveled all the way up to Cape Cod. Another manatee (or perhaps the same one) was spotted in the Hudson River two weeks ago.

Says one wildlife biologist, "It's, to our knowledge, the northernmost sighting of a manatee ever documented." Researchers aren't sure why the animal went so far north, but suspect it's because waters in that area have been unusually warm. Could this be global warming related? Will manatees soon be dodging boat motors off Nova Scotia?