Articles by Grist staff

Fools Rush In

Melting Arctic leads to black-gold rush A quarter of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas reserves may lie beneath the Arctic Ocean. For centuries they’ve been stuck under a thick layer of ice, but luckily, the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet and all that bothersome ice is melting! […]

1,000,000,000 cars

One billion. By 2020 or sooner, that's how many cars and light trucks there will be on the road around the world. That's one for every 6 1/2 people on the planet -- and over 25 percent more vehicles than we have today.

So begins a piece in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, which, I know, you can't access without a subscription. The story continues a paragraph later, setting up the general premise: What does that one billion figure mean for the future of cars?

The auto boom will only add to the congestion in major cities, as well as deepening the world's thirst for petroleum and spewing even more carbon dioxide into the air. That will leave drivers facing rising costs and traffic headaches, and force the auto industry to deal with rising demands for fuel efficiency, pollution control and a host of other rules and regulations ...

Longer term, the struggle to accommodate one billion autos on the planet may lead to a rethinking of the car's place in society.

Rethinking the car's place in society? Not an easy task, for sure. And one that the industry, environmentalists, and others are pondering at this very moment. (And will continue to ponder, to the point that their heads hurt. And then they'll ponder some more.)

The article goes on to talk about measures already under way: taxes on cars entering city centers during rush hour, fancy-pants traffic lights that sync to traffic patterns, alternative fuels, hybrid development, and even a flying car in the works.

Says one GMer, "the next 10 years will be fascinating." Indeed.

Andes Are Dandy

Grist continues to hype Great Peru Giveaway So you’ve been reading about Brangelina’s Namibian nativity, and you’re thinking you wouldn’t mind heading south of the equator yourself — but without all the labor pains and paparazzi? Boy, are you in luck! Grist is giving away an eco-trip for two to Peru, and you could be […]

A Lansing Blow

Michigan demands 90 percent cut to mercury emissions from power plants Tired of other states getting all the eco-love, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) has ordered her state’s coal-burning power plants to slash mercury emissions by 90 percent by 2015. Her plan will not be a cap-and-trade system, but will allow companies to produce a […]