Climate Culture

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  • An interview with Craig Minowa of green-leaning band Cloud Cult

    Craig Minowa. Imagine the soaring tribal rock of Arcade Fire, the head-nodding beat-pop of Postal Service, and the arty skronk of Modest Mouse, strung together in a loose-limbed, lo-fi pastiche. Toss in half a chamber orchestra and some found-sound collages, and top it off with vocals of almost childlike guilelessness and yearning. That, in a […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • TPM on Kerry on Colbert

    I’m sure lots of you follow TalkingPointsMemo, one of the earliest and still best political blogs on the net. They’ve started doing a (rather charmingly low-budget) daily TV show, and today they debuted a clip wherein they interview John Kerry before he goes on the Colbert Report. They also got some interesting footage from backstage. […]

    David Roberts Culture

  • NYT Magazine story: One nation united under green

    Tom Friedman, in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine, makes the point that green is the color that can unite the red and blue states.

    At Oceana we have found that conservation issues can and do cross party lines. For example, the Bush administration (yes, the Bush administration!) recently -- after working closely with our organization and other groups -- submitted a proposal in the ongoing World Trade Organization talks that would significantly cut fisheries subsidies.

    Andrew Sharpless Culture

  • A couple

    Here are two lists, for those of you into that kind of thing: First, Sustainlane — which seems to produce a list every few weeks, no? — has a list of the Top Ten Cities for Renewable Energy. That’s the cities that provide citizens with the most green power. They are: 1. Oakland, CA 2. […]

    David Roberts Culture

  • Angels and Airwaves to perform on campus this Sunday

    In the interest of keeping you informed, I offer the final chapter in the mtvU GE Ecomagination Challenge. As you may (or may not) recall, students were asked to propose projects that would green their respective campuses. Out of more than 100 entries, 10 finalists were chosen, and then you voted to help pick the […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • This model is no longer untouchable

    During college, I went through an ill-advised phase during which I tacked photos of supermodels I was never, ever going to look like on my dorm-room walls. One of my twiggy idols was Shalom Harlow, whom I loved because she a) really knew how to work the red lipstick and b) seemed like the least approachable person on the planet.

    No longer. This year, not only did she show up on the cover of Domino's Green Issue, she also (as Amanda Griscom Little reported) popped up at the Sundance Channel's Green Party, spouting nuggets of folksy green wisdom, like this one:

    We have a flushing system at our house where we only flush if it's number two.

    Goodbye untouchable supermodel. Hellloooooo, environmentally astute woman of the people!

    Yolanda Crous Culture

  • We’ve all got planks in our eyes

    It’s been a while since we all confessed our eco-sins. Inspired by these San Franciscans, I think it’s high time we all opened up to each other again. And go! (As long as you abide by the strict confessions-only rule — no chiding allowed.) Me? I love to drive and hate to bike (although I […]

    Sarah K. Burkhalter Culture

  • There’s more room than you think

    (Part of the No Sweat Solutions series.)

    As almost everyone who studies the subject concludes, one key to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is efficiency. Renewable sources generally provide energy at a slightly higher market price than fossil fuels. Oh, there are exceptions: passive solar heating, wind electricity, biofuel from waste. But overall, if we get all our energy from low-emitting sources, we will spend more overall per BTU. If we can use those BTUs efficiently, our overall energy bill can be the same or lower.

    Gar Lipow Culture

  • Or, what I learned watching The King of Queens last night

    What I learned while watching The King of Queens last night: Once you give up meat, it’s a slippery, slippery slope to becoming one of those nagging, know-it-all, hemp-hawking, finger-pointing, tree-hugging, self-righteous environmentalists we’re all trying to distance ourselves from (or most of us, anyway). The episode begins as main character Doug Heffernan — a […]

    Grist staff Culture

  • If you won’t go after them, we will

    The IPCC reports are some of the most highly anticipated of 2007. An obvious sign? Within two weeks of one report's release, papers are already covering a leak from the next.

    IPCC Working Group III's focus is on mitigation, meaning a fair number of policy implications can be derived from its conclusions. So here's a hint for America's auto industry: the report calls for urgent action on road pollution.

    In the United States, there are 483 passenger cars per 1,000 people (EarthTrends). The world average is about 100, and few countries outnumber our car count (Australia, for example, had 492 in 1996).

    Joseph Romm Culture