Grist List
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This is what mountaintop-removal mining looks like
This series of photographs from NASA's Landsat 5 satellite, taken over 26 years from 1984 to 2010, shows the toll mountaintop-removal mining takes on a landscape. You can watch the bombed-out area expand, and see that the "restored" scars never look quite the same. For a close-up look at the effects of mountaintop removal mining, […]
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Recycling robot is Terminator for trash
Finnish company ZenRobotics has developed a robot that can sort out recyclables from construction trash … about half the time. Doesn't sound exciting? That's because you haven't seen the company's awesomely over the top trailer. IN A WORLD … WHERE CONSTRUCTION TRASH MAKES UP 50 PERCENT OF THE WASTE IN U.S. LANDFILLS … ONLY ONE […]
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How some Iowa farmers keep the land fertile, while others salt the earth
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a new study out about the sexiest subject ever — soil erosion! Wait, don't go, this is important: Topsoil takes forever to make, so as it washes off of fields, it's literally taking our ability to feed ourselves with it. Previously, scientists had estimated that Iowa fields were losing […]
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Get ready for GOP baloney on gas prices
Politico is reporting this morning that House Republicans are gearing up to blame high gas prices on Obama. His offshore drilling moratorium, they say, is to blame for pump costs rocketing towards $5 a gallon. The GOP hasn't specified yet whether this is not intended to be a factual statement, but: This is not a […]
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Is this the natural gas industry’s fib-filled high pressure sales strategy?
As reported by Brian Merchant at Treehugger, a tipster has offered up an internal oil and natural gas company document called "Talking Points for Selling Oil and Gas Lease Rights." If this is genuine, it’s basically a “How To Lie To Get Drilling Rights For Fun and Profit” guide. One thing the document tells us […]
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Can genetic engineering save the redwoods?
A group of tree-lovers wants to save giant redwoods by cloning existing trees, reports The New York Times. There are a couple of problems with this plan: Giant redwoods are three things: red, wood, and GIANT. Where are you going to put them? (The group says they have plans for slightly more travel-sized trees as […]
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Japan could rebuild faster with renewables, says report
In the wake of severe natural disasters, how is Japan going to get its electrical infrastructure back online? The Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability has an answer, and it's anything but business as usual. By deploying a mix of renewables and energy efficiency technology, they argue, Japan's need for electricity could be met three […]
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Bolivia reads Mother Nature her rights
Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, has already made great strides in medicine: He’s the one who discovered that chickens turn you gay. Now he’s applying that innovation to legislation, saving the environment by declaring nature to have rights equal to people. The law would act as a bill of rights for nature, including the right […]
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What stayed in the budget bill?
The EPA dodged Republican attempts to hobble it this week– the continuing resolution on the budget bill is going forward without the riders that would forbid the agency to regulate greenhouse gases. But environmental protections still took some hits. What environmental insults have hung on in the continuing resolution? Interior blocked from enacting a “wildlands […]
