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An expose of climate ‘profiteers’

Joel Makower takes note of a new concern on the wackadoo Wall Street Journal editorial page: companies that plan to … avert your eyes, ye of tender constitution! … profit […]

Too much blog to handle?

I’ve got 12 — count ’em, 12 — posts queued to go up today on Gristmill, and that’s assuming neither I nor any other contributor writes another word. Out of […]

Observations on human nature

The sun pouring in my windows shut the furnace down hours ago. My daughter had two friends over for the night and we all walked to the local breakfast place this morning. There was a waiting list, so the girls skipped off to the park while I hung out sipping coffee. I would call them when our number came up (they all three have cell phones of course).

As is my habit, I observed. Attempts to strike up conversations with other guys proved fruitless of course. There was a shiny, navy blue Jetta TDI parked out front (with two biodiesel stickers on it, of course). As a status symbol, it is a step in the right direction, but not quite environmentally benign enough (in my rigorously defended opinion), unless it was made from recycled oil instead of soy.

In case you thought Sundays were lazy!

Be sure to check out this week's compilation of global warming news, brought to you by H. E. Taylor each week via A Few Things Ill Considered. It is quite comprehensive, so if 300+ links intimidate you, here are a few highlights:

Passenger rail on the East Coast is a mess

Western Massachusetts has just one passenger train that runs (once a day) up and down the north/south length of the Connecticut River Valley, connecting some of the bigger towns with Vermont and Connecticut. As if one train a day isn't bad enough, the new cover feature of the local weekly exposes just how inadequate it is:

In a few short hours

At around 5:30pm Pacific (8:30 EST) today, I’ll be appearing on Air America radio — specifically Radio Nation with Laura Flanders — to discuss media coverage of the State of […]

Gore should get up in this thing

Grist’s nonprofit status obviously means we can’t endorse any presidential candidate, and I doubt I’ll personally decide whom to support until much closer to the election. But one thing I […]

U.S. schools get schooled on sustainability

Remember how report card time at school brought a mix of emotions — excitement, anxiety, a little bit of vomit in your mouth? Oh, to be a student again. But […]

Jeremy Piven gets caught out

I admit it -- the vestigial high school girl in me loves celebrity gossip. Still, I can't help but cringe in sympathy every time the tabloids metaphorically draw and quarter some poor, stylistically challenged starlet for mismatching her bag and shoes or stepping out of her house in sweat pants on a Sunday morning. I happen to be a major fan of sweat pants on Sunday mornings. In fact, if I had the eff-you fortitude to walk down to my local coffee shop in pajama bottoms, I would.

Ethyl alcohol dulls the imagination

What explains The Economist's fascination with ethanol? In this week's issue, Britain's leading current-affairs magazine has published an extended article on "Green America: Waking up and catching up." Although most of the article actually talks about other energy sources besides ethanol, and about state-level efforts to encourage energy conservation and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, the photo editors chose to illustrate it with pictures of ethanol, ethanol, ethanol.