Articles by Grist staff

Is That a Fat Lady We Hear Singing?

The era of cheap oil is coming to an end soon; duck! Cheap oil is running out. A report from the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves puts the problem in stark terms: “The disparity between increasing production and declining discoveries can only have one outcome: a practical supply limit […]

Earth Day goings-on don’t measure up to dark drama on Capitol Hill

Today, on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the first Earth Day, the House of Representatives is voting on, and widely expected to pass, a grossly porkified energy bill that would dole out billions in subsidies to fossil-fuel industries, shortchange alternative-energy and efficiency initiatives, and indemnify makers of the gasoline additive MTBE against liability […]

EIA, EIA … Oh

Greenhouse-gas limits affordable, study says; “Told ya so,” E.U. replies A new study by the Energy Information Administration, an independent arm of the U.S. Energy Department, reveals that mandatory limits on greenhouse-gas emissions would not significantly affect the country’s economic growth through 2025. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the report contradicts the principal argument the Bush […]

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Iran using oil, natural gas resources to find fast friends Much in the way the kid with the backyard swimming pool and the trampoline always manages to rustle up friends, Iran is turning to its oil and gas reserves to leverage alliances with influential Eastern nations — and rather urgently, as it faces the threat […]