Grist List

Australians to kill camels for carbon credits

Australians really don't like the hundreds of thousands of feral camels that run around the continent, so every once in a while the government decides to spend money on sending guys with guns up in helicopters to cull their numbers. But now they have a utilitarian justification for the culls: They're fighting climate change.

Like cows, camels spew methane from their digestives systems. By cutting their lives short, one company argues, Australia would be preventing the release of the methane the camels would emit over their remaining years. The company, Northwest Carbon, also says it'll be able to offer carbon credits for the reduction in emissions.

E-waste idea: Turn an iMac into an aquarium

The iMac was built to be pretty. So why not sidestep the difficulty of recycling e-waste by making discarded iMac carapaces into something attractive for the home? Jake Harms had the clever idea to make them into aquariums, for "Mac and fish enthusiasts worldwide." The cases for his pre-made iMacquariums are sourced from recyclers, so you're not […]

Shark massacre reported off of Colombian coast

Off the coast of Colombia, as many as 2,000 sharks in a wildlife sanctuary have been massacred, says the Colombian government. A team of divers first alerted the government to the killings, according to the Guardian:

[The divers] saw a large number of fishing trawlers entering the zone illegally," [environmental minister Sandra] Bessudo said. The divers counted a total of 10 fishing boats, which all were flying the Costa Rican flag. 

Can we turn mining pits into underground cities?

Architect Matthew Fromboluti designed this inverted skyscraper to make use of abandoned open-pit mining operations in Bisbee, Ariz. The 900-foot underground building (maybe we should call it a mantle-scraper?) wouldn't just be for residences -- it would comprise an entire self-sufficient subterranean city, including crops fed by skylights. 

New skimmer can capture nearly 90 percent of spilled oil

After the BP oil spill, the X Prize Foundation offered a $1 million prize to anyone who could come up with a better way of cleaning up oil. But the winning team, Team Elastec/American Marine, didn’t merely do better -- they blew other oil skimmers out of the water (ha). Their skimmer sucks up nearly 90 percent of spilled oil. You can check it out in the video above. The details, according to NPR:

TransCanada threatens to seize land for Keystone XL pipeline

The Keystone XL pipeline hasn't even been approved yet, but that hasn't stopped proud papa TransCanada from starting to decorate its room. The company is already suing landowners who refuse to sell, and is threatening to use eminent domain to seize the land. 

Critical List: Exotic animals escape in Ohio; Nebraskans ‘stand with Randy’

Forty-eight escapees from an exotic animal farm were running amok in eastern Ohio; about 25 of the lions, tigers, and bears have been shot.

If the U.S. wants to oversee Cuba's offshore drilling, it'll have to lift the embargo.

Glad is selling an eco-friendly trash bag, made with less plastic.

Huge, polluting container ships that carry all our stuff clean up their act

Everyone knows that our iPads, clothes, kitchen appliances, furniture—our entire lives, basically—are made in China. But everyone might not know the container ships that bring that stuff over to the U.S. are climate-destroying juggernauts. According to OnEarth, just one container ship emits as much sulfur oxide (the stuff that makes smog) per year as 50 million cars. Plus, shipping accounts for 3.5 percent of all GHG emissions, twice as much as aviation.

The good news is that air pollution rules are pushing container shipping companies to clean up their act.

Watch a dust cloud engulf Texas

Holy moly. Lubbock, Texas, is really seeing the effects of its record-breaking drought. Is this another indicator of the Southwest becoming a new Dust Bowl? At any rate, it's super amazing/weird/pants-wettingly scary to watch.