Grist List
-
![]()
![]()
Google science fair winner stands up for air quality
Naomi Shah, winner of the Google science fair in the 15-16 age group, isn't just a budding research scientist. She's also an environmentalist. And her project, which focuses on the effects of air quality triggers on asthma sufferers, highlights why other people should be environmentalists too.
-
![]()
![]()
This is nuts: The House wants the EPA to stop protecting clean water
Oh, EPA, why do you have to go around, you know, regulating all the time? You know it just pisses off Republicans. You tried to keep coal companies in West Virginia from dumping waste into streams, so now House Republicans (and, to be fair, a handful of Democrats) have passed a bill that would take away your authority to enforce the Clean Water Act. I mean, what did you expect them to do?
No bigs, right? It's only one of the most fundamental environmental laws OF ALL TIME. -
![]()
![]()
Phoenix park will turn dog poop into light
Another point for dogs in eternal battle of cats vs. canines: While cats are bad for the environment, dog poop could help cut carbon costs. In Phoenix, a local dog park is trying to capture methane gas from dog waste and burn it in the park’s lamps.
-
![]()
![]()
Idaho highway is COVERED IN BEES
So that's what was happening with all the bees! It wasn't cell phones (okay, it really wasn't) or pesticide. They were just all inside a truck. And now that truck has crashed on an Idaho highway, releasing 14 million bees to go make a giant vat of potato honey or whatever bees do in Idaho.
-
![]()
![]()
JetBlue offers $4 L.A.-to-L.A. flights for Carmageddon
Los Angeles is quaking in fear of "Carmageddon" this weekend, when 10 miles of heavily-populated Route 405 will be shut down. But never fear, Angelenos ... you won't have to spend even a single weekend not pumping out tons of carbon! JetBlue will let you fly from Burbank (just north of L.A.) to Long Beach (just south of L.A.) for only $4.
-
Critical List: Republicans vote to give states power over clean water; deer ticks in the Great Lakes
House Republicans voted yesterday to let states decide whether a company is living up to the Clean Water Act or not. The EPA's decision to prevent West Virginia coal companies from dumping waste into rivers prompted the bill to begin with, so it's pretty safe to assume that the bill's not meant to strengthen CWA protections.
The federal government says the cost of carbon is $21 per ton; a group of pro-environment economists says the cost is closer to $900 per ton.
China's feeding its "strategic pork reserve" with soybeans grown in Brazil on environmentally sensitive land.
As Moscow more than doubles in size, it will raze acres of forestland. -
![]()
![]()
Cut trash with tiny trash cans
We tend to associate the "everything bigger" approach with wastefulness -- oversized cars guzzle gas, McMansions drive up electricity bills, 72-ounce challenge steaks never get fully eaten. So it makes sense to think that downsizing trash cans might help downsize trash. That's what they're finding at Dartmouth College, anyway, where trash cans as small as quart-size yogurt containers (that's my ineptly 'shopped comparison above) are cutting down on waste.
-
![]()
![]()
New solar cells can be printed on paper or fabric
Finally, your dream of solar pants (that don't look douchey) can come true! MIT researchers have devised solar panels that can be printed directly onto fabric, plastic, or paper, as easily as printing from an inkjet. The result is a flexible, malleable solar panel with enough juice to power ... well, okay, barely any juice at all right now. But it's still in the early stages of development! Besides, once you pair your solar pants with a solar shirt, tie, bag, fedora, and shoes, it'll start to add up, and you will also look very snappy.
-
![]()
![]()
Fight climate change by following the speed limit
Bay Area drivers could get a friendly push from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to fight climate change through "smart driving." This means: going easy on fuel consumption by avoiding sudden acceleration, keeping their tires inflated, ditching the golf clubs in the truck, keeping their cars tuned up, and most of all, following the goddamn speed limit.
