Grist List
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Solar companies fight to the death
Are we done mourning the death of Solyndra yet? Because, according to solar executives, it's just going to be the first victim in a Highlander-style fight among solar companies to prove who is best. One Chinese exec predicts that two-thirds of solar companies could disappear by 2015. Part of the story here is that certain […]
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Study: Climate-related events cost the health-care system $14 billion
A new study, spearheaded by the Natural Resources Defense Council and published in the current issue of Health Affairs, puts a price tag on climate-related health effects — and it is steep. All told, the study says, climate change-related events have burdened the U.S. health-care system with $14 billion in costs, and accounted for 1,689 premature […]
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How the EPA and states are failing to keep air clean
NPR and iWatch News* have a monster report out about the ways the Environmental Protection Agency and state regulators have failed to crack down on air polluters. Here's the takeaway point: While some business and political leaders, including President Obama, increasingly warn of the impacts of overregulation on the foundering economy, many ordinary Americans face […]
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Here’s a black rhino flying across South Africa
This photo, by Green Renaissance for the World Wildlife Fund, shows a sedated black rhino being airlifted across South Africa. The WWF's Black Rhino Range Expansion Project aims to move the rhinos into safer habitats, which may mean transporting the beasts more than 900 miles.
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How to make your e-book reader solar-powered
If you're willing to pry apart your e-book reader — maybe you got it for cheap, or maybe you're just a super-hacker — you can tweak it so it runs on solar power. If you can't even pronounce "solder," or if you don't know what the following things are: Schottky diode MAX1551 or MAX1555 IC […]
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Critical List: Australia will have a carbon tax; 10 percent of Chinese farmland contaminated
Australia is going to have a carbon tax: The prime minister's plan just passed the country's senate. Not only do cars kill, so do commutes. A man in England dumped more than 1 million tires across the country. Heavy metals have contaminated 10 percent of farmland in China. Shorter Rick Perry: The government should stop […]
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Inspector general will investigate Keystone XL
According to a memo posted by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the State Department's inspector general will conduct an investigation into the Keystone XL permitting process. Fourteen members of Congress requested an audit two weeks ago, citing irregularities in the environmental review for the pipeline. Just to recap: At TransCanada's suggestion, the State Department hired environmental […]
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Is post-Jobs Apple going to stop poisoning China?
While Steve Jobs was head of Apple, the company was one of "America's least philanthropic companies," lacking even a basic corporate charitable arm. Apple also often seemed reluctant to green its operations. But under new CEO Tim Cook, that might be about to change. In the meantime, many of Apple's suppliers are still poisoning the […]
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Beijing denies air pollution while party elites get home air purifiers
While China's citizenry are dying in record numbers owing to catastrophic levels of urban air pollution, the country's leaders are breathing Perri-Air. That is, their offices and homes use elaborate, expensive air filters to prevent the country's elites from having to breathe the same toxic shit as the plebes in the street. Meanwhile, the government reports […]
