Climate Climate & Energy

Lesley Marcus Carlson, cofounder of Carbonfund, answers questions

Lesley Marcus Carlson. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I am the president of Carbonfund.org. What does your organization do? Very simply, we make it easy and affordable for individuals or businesses to reduce their climate footprints to zero. We help people understand their impact on the climate and mitigate it by supporting energy […]

How are journalists covering climate change in Katrina’s wake?

As the 140-mile-per-hour winds of Hurricane Katrina raged through the lush lowlands of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama on Monday, as people clung to their roofs, as levees crumbled, as fires blazed, we met in the Grist offices and asked each other: “Wonder if anyone’s writing about climate change?” Frankly, we committed the sin of heartlessness […]

Coming at It From a New Anglo

U.K. Christian groups ally with eco-advocates to lobby on climate change Several Christian organizations in the U.K. have joined forces with environmental groups in a new alliance to “Stop Climate Chaos.” The coalition is pressuring the British government to make cutting greenhouse-gas emissions a domestic and international priority and to support international aid and development […]

Umbra on offsetting emissions from flatulence

Dear Umbra, I was wondering if there is any information about the average CO2 emissions from human flatulence. My friend (and I really do mean my friend, I’m not just trying to hide that it’s for me) has a birthday coming up, and I think it would be a fun and meaningful gift to get […]

Freedom to Pollute Is on the March

New air rules could allow coal-fired plants to pollute more The Bush administration may finally eviscerate the legal basis for many pesky air-pollution lawsuits against coal-fired power plants. A new proposal being drafted by the U.S. EPA would change the system for monitoring plants’ emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide: after a plant modernized […]

The latest solution to pumped-up prices

Because I'm obsessed with reactions to gas prices, I shall tell you about an email I got this morning from a childhood friend in Maine. Maybe you've also gotten it. But not from my friend, a sweet woman who usually forwards the Ann-Landers messages: you know, a poem reminding you to love your kids and scratch behind your dog's ears, because tomorrow you might all be dead, that sort of thing.

Today's note is about a campaign to "force a price war" by not buying gas from ExxonMobil. The thinking goes that once they feel the sting, they'll have to lower prices below $2, and everyone else will follow suit. Hmm ...

The most interesting part (to wonky ol' me) was this line: "Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas." Sigh. In a breakdown of an older version of this chain letter and an explanation of why it will never, ever work, Break the Chain slips in this bit of finger-wagging: "If you want to save money at the pump, slow down on the freeway, plan outings to get everything in one trip, walk more, and trade in that gas-guzzling SUV for an economical compact car for starters."

Play Your Cardigans Right

Americans look with dread toward this winter’s heating bills Skyrocketing energy costs aren’t just kicking Americans in the gas tank — they’re punching Americans right in the bills. The home-heating bills, that is. Folks are expected to spend $600 billion this year on oil purchases (including home heating oil), about $210 billion more than two […]

Drivers panic at the pump

Are rising gas prices driving some people to the brink? Late last week, a station attendant in Alabama was run over and killed while trying to stop a dude from stealing $52 worth of gas. (The driver just turned himself in.) And today, on my new favorite web feature "Gas Gripes," a woman reports that her credit card was stolen and used to buy not a TV or a diamond ring, but -- you guessed it -- gas.

I was going to be all delicate and say you couldn't draw a trend from such isolated events. But behold, the glory of the web. An AP story on MSNBC today bears the headline, "Rising gasoline prices spur thefts, violence." And if the AP says it, it must be true. (Right, Pat?)

Last year, sneaky drivers made off with an astonishing $237 million in stolen gas, the story says. A spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores (whose site offers tips for preventing gas theft) had this to say: "As the price of gas climbs, people's values decline."

Downward Freezing Dog

Freezing AC is status symbol at some Asian offices In some tropical Asian cities, it’s become a symbol of luxury to keep offices at an arctic chill. Hong Kong may be the world’s coldest city when you’re indoors, say researchers, who found the average office temperature is between 70 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit (72 to […]

Jack Frost Nippon at Your Nose

Japan will encourage office workers to bundle up for the winter Japan’s summer “Cool Biz” campaign, which encourages office workers to shed their coats and ties and wear lighter clothing so less energy need be spent on air conditioning, has proven such a success that now the nation’s Environment Ministry is plotting to follow it […]