Articles by Grist staff

Nuke-power company Exelon announces big emissions cuts by 2020

Nuclear-power company Exelon today launched a program it says will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by over 16 million tons a year by 2020 — more than the company’s current total annual emissions. The company’s plan calls for buying renewable-energy credits to offset some of its emissions, generating a small amount of electricity from alternative sources such […]

Transportation sector lies at the root of U.S. energy problem

This is a guest essay from Jack D. Hidary, chair of SmartTransportation.org and the Freedom Prize Foundation. It was originally published on the Huffington Post and is republished here with the author's permission.

The price of oil struck an ominous chord for the U.S. economy with yesterday's record trade of $147 per barrel. At these prices we are sending more than $1 million every minute of every day to oil rich countries. As oil hits a new high the dollar has hit a record low against the euro. Our equity is draining away and flowing to foreign hands.

How can we get ourselves out of this mess? This crisis will take nothing short of a restructuring of our core industrial and transport sectors. Just as a turnaround CEO comes in to fix a troubled company, we need a retooling to rid ourselves of oil dependency. We do not need politicians looking for fake fixes such as a summer gas tax holiday.

We do not need the President of the United States of America to beg sheiks for a bit more of the black gold. Keep your dignity, Mr. President.

The problem is clear -- 55 percent of all the oil we use in the U.S. is guzzled by cars and SUVs. Not planes, not trains, not big trucks. To find the problem look no further than your driveway. Yes, the fleet of 245 million cars and SUVs that we drive in the US -- that is the main problem.

Snippets from the news

• EPA details health risks posed by climate change. • Climate change linked to kidney stones. • Coal linked to developmental problems. • General Motors and governors aim to boost biofuel infrastructure. • Canada partially bans flame retardant. • More fuel-efficient jet announced.

Rental-car companies struggling to meet demand for smaller cars

Consumer demand for smaller cars is putting car-rental companies in a bit of a bind. Until recently, American automakers were glad to unload overstock to Hertz, Avis, and Thrifty at a discount, then guarantee a price to buy the cars back used. But with demand for hulking American cars dropping, Detroit has cut back production […]