Articles by Grist staff

Obama would make cap-and-trade program a top economic priority

Photo: barackobama.com Setting up a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse-gas emissions would be one of Barack Obama’s top economic priorities if he were elected president, right up there with a new health-care system, The Wall Street Journal reports. As part of an effort to cut emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, Obama would auction […]

States sue EPA over greenhouse-gas emissions from refineries

Twelve states, the city of New York, and the District of Columbia are suing the U.S. EPA for not regulating greenhouse-gas emissions from oil refineries. The suit accuses the agency of violating the Clean Air Act by refusing to issue standards for controlling carbon dioxide emissions from new or updated refinery equipment. In essence, the […]

A choice of primary energies: renewable electrons win the gold

As you might expect from an analyst who has written a series about the (renewable) electron economy, I believe that the mainstay of our future energy system will be electric generators powered by renewable energy. However, I hope to show here that this choice has a basis largely in economic, scientific, and technological reality rather […]

Bush admin proposes scaling back speed-limit zone meant to protect right whales

On the same day that President Bush moved toward creation of marine sanctuaries in the Pacific, his administration proposed cutting by 10 nautical miles a speed-limit zone in the Atlantic meant to protect critically endangered right whales. The proposal would cut the area covered by the speed zones to 20 nautical miles offshore from the […]