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Gulf of Mexico oil spill

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    What the Super Tuesday primary races mean for climate and clean energy

    So much for the Gulf oil spill as a political game-changer. In Tuesday’s primaries, the BP stink didn’t sink anyone. In fact, the winners included a number of candidates with oil under their nails. Let’s survey the damage: Blanche Lincoln. Arkansas Senate race You’re not from around these parts, are ya?: If anyone was going […]

    Randy Rieland Politics

  • Can we just drive less after the Gulf spill? If only it were so easy …

    Photo: Stephan Geyer via FlickrNPR reporter Brian Mann went talking to gas-station customers in upstate New York to find out what they’re thinking about the Gulf of Mexico oil leak and their own responsibility as gas-buyers. He gets some interesting responses, but I’d like to engage in some bloggerly quibbling with his conclusion. Mann finds […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Cities

  • BP gears up to win over Washington and the rest of us

    A BP trash bag — not quite big enough to contain its mess.Photo: abrahamhyat via FlickrA little less than a month ago, back before he was madly tripping over his tongue, BP CEO Tony Hayward was sounding almost inspirational as he channeled Winston Churchill: “We are determined to fight this spill on all fronts, in […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • Hold Your Breath and Sell BP

    I am very cautious about giving investment advice and downright reluctant to just pile onto the media frenzy attacking BP for its blunders in the Gulf of Mexico. That said, I feel compelled to warn America about the greater disaster that looms ahead for anyone who owns BP stock or anyone east of the Mississippi […]

    Terry Tamminen Technology

  • Does Obama need more oilmen, not fewer, in his administration?

    Does good governance require a certain amount of this? Last week, I suggested that Obama “purge his administration of oil hacks.” I identified three: William Reilly, co-chair of the administration’s oil-spill investigation commission and a well-compensated director of ConocoPhillips since 1998; Steve Koonin, who took the a top Department of Energy post in 2009 after […]

    Tom Philpott Politics

  • BP should be like Newman’s Own

    After the BP Gulf disaster is ancient history, I want that company to thrive. I want it to be vastly more profitable than ExxonMobil. It should continue exploration and drilling all over the world, including offshore. And I’m asking for just one broad change in how the company operates: BP should donate all its profits for the […]

    Auden Schendler Technology

  • Just how much oil is still spurting into the Gulf?

    “The immense undersea gusher of oil and gas, seen on live video feed, looks as big as it did last week, or bigger, before the company sliced through the pipe known as a riser to install its new collection device.” –From “Rate of Oil Leak, Still Not Clear, Puts Doubt on BP,” The New York […]

    Tom Philpott Uncategorized

  • Ask Umbra on celebrating World Oceans Day

    Some water over the rainbow … maybe there isn’t an oil spill.Photo: Sean Linehan, NOAAAhoy, mateys! Today is June 8th, and it’s one of my favorite holidays: World Oceans Day! World Oceans Day was officially declared a holiday last year by the United Nations. This year, I’m celebrating by taking a moment to consider the […]

    Ask Umbra® Culture

  • Readers pick their brains for ways to plug the oil leak

    Crowdsourcing for solutions sometimes turns up ideas that are more creative or higher quality than the “experts” ever could think up. (Like the protein-folding game/scientific experiment, Foldit, or even urban dictionary.) Which is why we asked you, our dear readers, to plumb the depths of your brains for the slickest ideas to stop up the […]

    Grist staff Climate & Energy