Articles by Grist staff

Santa Barbara County officials give thumbs-up to offshore drilling

Santa Barbara County supervisors on Tuesday voted 3 to 2 in favor of allowing offshore drilling along their coastline — a move that has no practical impacts, but is rich with symbolism. The southern California county was hit with a devastating 3-million-gallon crude oil spill from an offshore platform in 1969; it coated beaches, killed […]

To solve global warming, we need to support every alternative transportation pathway

The following is a guest essay from Bob Rose, executive director of the U.S. Fuel Cell Council. This essay responds to Joseph Romm’s Gristmill post, “Flush! Department of Energy flushes $15 million down the hydrogen toilet.” —– Joe Romm’s recent post, “Flush!” disparages the Department of Energy’s award of a number of projects aimed at […]

Snippets from the news

• Summer Arctic sea-ice drops to second lowest level on record. • China’s carbon emissions from power plants to increase by a third this year, report says. • Japan publishes “research” on 4,500 whales it’s killed. • German study finds going veg can cut carbon emissions. • Massive flooding in India incites food riots. • […]

Consumers express renewed interest in natural-gas vehicles

High oil prices, increased domestic natural-gas production, and a well-publicized push from a former oil man have all boosted interest in natural-gas vehicles in the United States lately. This spring, the natural-gas equivalent of a gallon of gasoline was selling for about $1.50 less than gasoline on average nationwide. And in some places like Utah, […]