Climate Climate & Energy

Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm Is Scared

U.S. insurers wake up to financial risks of global warming OK, pound a shot of espresso so you can stay awake for this story, ’cause it matters. Honest. Last week the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an umbrella group of state insurance officials … hey, come back here! … voted unanimously to assess the potential […]

Campuses across the country turn to renewable energy

"Leadership in sustainability could give [University of Florida] the edge it needs to be a Top 10 public university." That's the beginning of an article from UF's student paper The Alligator. Now read it again. (Just do it. Work with me, people!) Do you understand what that means? Let me spell it out for you: Sustainability = Mad Props. Really. That's what it says.

And apparently it's a growing trend; colleges are seeing green cred as an important factor in attracting students and getting high rankings from Those People Who Decide Which Colleges Are the Best and Which Ones Suck. And one way many schools are going for the green is by powering up renewable energy on their campuses. (Ha! "Powering up" ... you love it!)

Schools ranging in size from community colleges to major Ivy Leagues are moving toward renewable energy use (and gaining loads of green cred in the process):

• Napa Valley College has installed Northern California's largest solar array to provide 40 percent of its power.
• The Massachusetts Maritime Academy is erecting a wind turbine in hopes of cutting electric bills in half.
• Yale plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent below 1990 levels (hello, DIY Kyoto!) by investing in energy conservation and alternative energy sources.

And these schools certainly are not alone.

(Tell Me Why) I Don’t Like Tuesdays

Scientists report even less Arctic ice, even more greenhouse gas In the wake of unprecedented summer melts, Arctic sea ice has failed to grow to its typical winter reach for the second year running. Researchers fear this signals — stop us if this sounds familiar — an irreversible amplification of the effects of climate change […]

Heart and solar

My advice to all you Dig This-diggers out there: Hop on the solar bandwagon. Big things lie ahead.

Indicators include the news that Solar Night Industries intends to start churning out "portable power supplies, home and energy power grid solutions, consumer outdoor/indoor products, portable 110V plugs, solar sporting solutions and many more." Currently Solar Night Industries specializes in the very lovely but not particularly, um, useful fiber optic daylily (pictured above).

Indicator two: Solar power makes homeowners happy. Am I the only one who thinks that's just about the cutest headline ever? The article begins, "Today's solar home buyer is not a stereotypical green enthusiast." That's good news, people. It goes on to report on a small survey of residents of new solar home developments in California (of course):

Love Means Never Having to Remove Your Oil Platforms

Controversial research shows fish thriving around California oil platforms Controversy over 27 oil platforms off the California coast is making waves (ouch!). Delightfully monikered marine biologist Milton Love says the submerged portions of the platforms are serving as artificial reefs and valuable habitat for overfished species like rockfish and bocaccio (which we had previously thought […]

Sand Trap

Cancers, other diseases rising near Alberta oil sands Illnesses including leukemia and lymphomas are cropping up at greater than expected rates in a First Nations community near oil sands in Canada’s Alberta province. Elders at Fort Chipewyan say incidence of disease started rising when the oil industry started extracting and processing hundreds of thousands of […]

We Love a Plan in Uniform

U.S. military aims to trim energy use After years of pooh-poohing fuel efficiency, the U.S. military has been ordered by the Department of Defense to cut energy use at all military bases and facilities by 2 percent per year — to which they replied, “Yes, sir! Right away, sir!” The Pentagon’s demand comes on the […]

The Leak Shall Inhibit the Earth

Northern Alaska pipeline leak may rank as one of region’s largest Cleanup crews have been working in subzero temperatures to sop up crude oil and soiled snow near northern Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay after what looks to be one of the largest spills ever in the region. The source of the crud(e) was discovered last Thursday […]

Elizabeth Kolbert’s Field Notes From a Catastrophe gives climate change a human face

Elizabeth Kolbert began building a fan base among political junkies with a series of vivid New Yorker profiles that were collected in 2004’s The Prophet of Love. Ranging from George Pataki and Hillary Clinton to Regis Philbin and Al Sharpton, from title character Rudy Giuliani to former Weatherman Kathy Boudin, Kolbert’s pieces were filled with […]

Three new books put the spotlight on our warming world

Here at Grist, we tend to be good at detecting extremely subtle patterns. Like, say, the way certain politicians keep trying to drill in certain areas. Or the way love letters inevitably come after we publish a striking photo that might portray Umbra Fisk. Or the number of rainy days in a row outside our […]