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  • Dearth Nader

    A fuel tax is a great idea waiting for a champion; paging a Mr. Nader It’s time for Americans to get over their sense of entitlement to cheap energy, bite the bullet, and institute a progressive fuel tax, says economist Charles Komanoff. Making energy more expensive would result in a host of benefits, both at […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • A new natural capitalism

    I'm going to sit the fence on Kit's poll by saying that reigning in climate change will require both a re-envisioning of capitalism and a revision of our core values.

    An excellent professor of mine at MIT introduced our class to the concept of "natural capitalism," pioneered by Paul Hawkins and Amory and L. Hunter Lovins. Their 1999 book on the subject, probably familiar to many of you, was an eye-opener for me at the time. Here is a short synopsis of the book from Publisher's Weekly:

    Maywa Montenegro Technology

  • Why “the market” alone can’t save local agriculture

    The local-food movement has reached an interesting juncture. Through one lens, things are looking better than ever. According to a USDA report (PDF), the number of farmers’ markets leapt 79 percent to 3,100 between 1994 and 2002. Community-supported agriculture programs — wherein consumers buy a share of a farm’s output before the season starts, sharing […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • Getting a toehold on your company’s climate footprint

    “What’s your company’s climate footprint?” It’s a hot question these days — one being asked increasingly of companies by customers, investors, activists, regulators, and others. OK, it may not be exactly that question, but it’s probably in some form, like, “What’s your company doing to reduce its climate impacts?” Or, “How do you call yourself […]

    Joel Makower Technology

  • Wal-Mart is not a person

    Your AWOL blogger here, just to make a quick point:

    David Roberts Technology

  • Yukon Fool Some of the People Some of the Time

    GM builds world’s first LEED-certified auto plant, slows SUV production If BP went Beyond Petroleum, does that mean GM is Greening Motors? The struggling U.S. automaker recently unveiled two nuggets of eco-friendly news. Its brand-spankin’ new Lansing Delta Township assembly plant in Michigan received the U.S. Green Building Council’s gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • To Tech With It

    Investment money pours into the green-tech sector Investors are ga-ga for green. In 2005, clean energy projects in the U.S. were showered with $17 billion in investment money, up 89 percent from 2004. Just in 2005, the worldwide market for carbon credits blossomed from essentially nothing to around $11 billion. And these are not just […]

    Grist staff Technology

  • Wal-Mart’s green makeover

    I have an op-ed on TomPaine.com today about Wal-Mart's recent green initiatives. Give it a read. I'm sure the accusations of corporate whoredom will come rolling in at any moment.

    I worry that, even given the copious pixels expended, my overall point was not entirely clear. So below the fold, I shall try to express it in more compact form.

    David Roberts Technology

  • Wal-Mart’s devious profit motive

    I'm in the midst of writing an op-ed about Wal-Mart's green transformation. One theme that comes up frequently in the commentary is this: Wal-Mart is "only" doing these things because they'll improve the bottom line.

    Um ... yeah.

    It's a business. It's supposed to make money. As a publicly held corporation, it's required by law to make money. If it went around doing things that deliberately reduced its profits, it would be subject to a shareholder lawsuit.

    The whole point of the green business trend is that green makes business sense. Reducing waste is good management. What kind of bizarre message does it send if a business sees the light on this issue only to be told that they get no credit because their motivations are financial?

    Sometimes I'm just not sure what greens expect.

    David Roberts Technology

  • Wal-Mart and culture

    This NYT piece about Wal-Mart's failure to fit in culturally in various of its international conquest states is just fascinating. Apparently wanting everything available in one place, at the lowest possible price, in huge impersonal stores is not a fundamental feature of human nature, but a cultural artifact. In Germany, for instance, the company is just giving up entirely.

    Trolling through the article, I pulled out these nifty tidbits:

    David Roberts Technology