Grist List

Spanish city lets you trade in your car for a lifetime pass on public transit

The Spanish city of Murcia offered its residents a lifetime of free trolley rides if they would only give up their cars.

Zero-energy lighting for poor communities requires only water and bleach

It can get pretty dark under the corrugated metal roofs of Manila’s slums. Millions of families in the Philippines go without electric light, and those who have it can be at risk of fires from faulty wiring. But thanks to an innovation developed at MIT and distributed by the Liter of Light project, that problem […]

So much for GOP's lightbulb bill

Whether they decided they had more important things to worry about than saving the inefficient lightbulb, or whether they were scared of enraging the ghost of Thomas Edison, House members put the kibosh on a bill that would have repealed lightbulb efficiency standards.

Coal company: 'Birth defects aren't from mining, they're because you're inbred hicks'

Babies born in areas with mountaintop-removal mining have higher rates of birth defects -- we know that from a study that came out last month. But, say coal companies, that doesn't mean the mining CAUSES the birth defects! They could easily be caused by something else -- like, say, rampant inbreeding.

Critical List: It’s hot; 2.7 million Americans work in clean energy

It's hot. It's hot. It's hooooottttt.

You want green jobs? Here are your green jobs: 2.7 million Americans are employed in the clean energy economy, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution.

But that could all end with a drop-off in government subsidies across the world.

Surprise! Fracking fluid kills trees

Not that this is a big surprise or anything, but a new study shows that disposing of fracking fluid can do a number on local trees. One perfectly legal dump of used fracking fluid in West Virginia ended up killing more than half of the trees in the affected area.

Could you squeeze into the world's skinniest house?

Killing weeds may kill butterflies

Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed, and as young caterpillars, they eat the stuff. But humans like to have neat rows of corn and soybeans, and milkweed interferes with their field aesthetics. Which is more important? Doesn’t matter; humans have thumbs, agriculture, and industrial chemistry. Thus, 100 million acres of row crops are now milkweed-free; Monarch butterflies have fewer places to stash their young; and their population may be dwindling.

Five things Al Gore will reveal at the upcoming Climate Reality event

On Sept. 14, The Climate Reality Project, spearheaded by Al Gore, will bring us, "24 hours of reality … An event that that will focus the world's attention on the full truth, scope, scale and impact of the climate crisis." Its goals: "To remove the doubt, reveal the deniers, and catalyze urgency around an issue that affects every one of us."