Articles by Grist staff

A Little Dab’ll Do Ya In

Micro-exposure to common chemicals may cause big health problems Will wonders never cease? The Wall Street Journal, not typically known for its sympathy to green issues, had a blockbuster piece of environmental reporting plastered on page A1 yesterday. In the first part of an ongoing series, it describes new research on low-level exposure to common […]

New models in Nike’s ‘Considered’ line an improvement

As Metaefficient has already pointed out, Nike has added new models to its "Considered" line of eco-friendly(er) shoes. And I have to agree with Meta's note that for the most part, these are an improvement.

Perhaps the folks at Nike read my original post!

Should nuclear fusion be considered a green energy source?

Thanks to Treehugger for reminding me to blog about the cover story of National Geographic's August issue: Powering the Future. I'm sure some Gristmillians will find flaws in some of the article's assertions and statistics, but as Treehugger Michael Richard notes, it seems to be a good introductory piece for the uninitiated.

What I found of interest was the inclusion of fusion as a possible green energy source. I did a quick search of the Grist archives and found very little. So what is it doing in a NG feature story?

Here is how the section for fusion starts off:

Fusion is the gaudiest of hopes, the fire of the stars in the human hearth. Produced when two atoms fuse into one, fusion energy could satisfy huge chunks of future demand. The fuel would last millennia. Fusion would produce no long-lived radioactive waste and nothing for terrorists or governments to turn into weapons. It also requires some of the most complex machinery on Earth.

From what I read in NG, there seems to be no downside to fusion, assuming you can actually make it work. So, I headed over to the indispensable Wikipedia and dug a little deeper.

Green architect Raphael Sperry answers questions

Raphael Sperry. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I’m the president of Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility, which is a small nonprofit with a national membership and active local chapters in Northern California, Seattle, and New York City. What does your organization do? ADPSR has a broad mission of advancing peace, environmental sustainability, and social […]