interview

Ron Steenblik, sustainability advocate and subsidies scholar, answers Grist’s questions

Ron Steenblik. What work do you do? I am the director of research for the Global Subsidies Initiative, an ambitious new project under the auspices of the International Institute for Sustainable Development. What does your organization do? The GSI was created to measure, analyze, and illuminate subsidies that are undermining sustainability, through targeted research and […]

Moby reflects on his new “best of” album and his not-so-new social activism

Moby stops to chat about his new album Go, and his politics. Photo: Danny Clinch Earlier this month, DJ-turned-pop-star Moby released Go, a two-disc “best of” collection featuring songs from his multi-platinum albums and a new track with vocals from Debbie Harry. But despite reaching that benchmark, this is not your typical self-indulgent star. While […]

Activist Sam Pratt, featured in a PBS documentary, answers Grist’s questions

Sam Pratt. What work do you do? I advise citizens’ groups and campaigns on how to win against the odds, and I’m working on a manual of strategy and tactics for underdogs. When neighbors work closely together in a smart and structured way, there is no such thing as a “done deal” — no matter […]

Eric Schlosser on America’s food industry and his delicious new film

Eric Schlosser on the set of Fast Food Nation. Photo: Matt Lankes/ © Fox Searchlight Eric Schlosser sat unassumingly — and almost out of place — in a floral armchair in a spacious, elegantly decorated suite on the 10th floor of Seattle’s Fairmont Olympic Hotel. Behind him, a poster rested on an easel. It featured […]

Julian Dautremont-Smith, higher-education sustainability advocate, answers questions

Julian Dautremont-Smith. What work do you do? I’m the associate director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. AASHE has a staff of two, so I have a hand in almost everything the organization does. How does it relate to the environment? AASHE is a membership-based association of colleges and universities […]

An interview with Renate Künast, Germany’s Green Party chair

As the U.N. climate-change conference heats up this week in Nairobi, Kenya, strategies to promote clean energy and slow global warming top the agenda for many nations — not least of all Germany, which is Europe’s biggest economy, a global leader in green technology, and the country set to take over the 12-month presidency of […]

Eric Ritz, youth-activism promoter, answers Grist’s questions

What work do you do? I’m the founder and executive director of Global Inheritance. What does your organization do? We reinvent activism for today’s young generation. Our initiatives focus on the power of creativity to communicate and push for progressive social change while rejecting conflict. Global Inheritance targets various subcultures, developing campaigns that cater specifically […]

Tom Gray on green touring, Wal-Mart, and why he won’t proselytize

Gomez: (l to r) Ben Ottewell, Ian Ball, Olly Peacock, Paul Blackburn, Tom Gray. Photo: Kevin Westenberg Tom Gray isn’t sure where the stuffed monkeys came from. He just knows that at the moment, they’re in the way. Moving them to one side, he offers me a seat on the cushioned bench at the front […]

Signs of hope in the elephant party

In a week's time, the political climate in America will change -- or so the experts tell us. Pollster Charlie Cook, the "Oracle of Washington," calls this a "wave" election, compares it to 1994, and predicts Republicans will lose "at least 20 to 35 seats, possibly more." In the L.A. Times, conservative historian Niall Ferguson compares this election to 1958. That year, a two-term Republican president found himself stuck with an unpopular war and a sluggish economy. The GOP lost 48 seats, setting the stage for a dynamic new Democratic president in 1960, and Democratic domination of the Congress for the next 20 years.

If the election goes as these pollsters predict, November 7th will be "the end of George W. Bush's presidency as he has known it," reported the Washington Post.

Will prospects improve for environmental protection? Probably. But much will still depend on the Republican Party.