Articles by Tom Philpott
Tom Philpott was previously Grist's food writer. He now writes for Mother Jones.
All Articles
-
The shining promise of ethanol doesn’t add up for farmers
No one can begrudge corn farmers their share of euphoria over the recent ethanol boom. Until very recently, their plight could be summed up by a bit of gallows humor […]
-
Decades after Silent Spring, pesticides remain a menace — especially to farmworkers
In 1962, Rachel Carson published her landmark Silent Spring, which documented the ravages of agricultural pesticides, particularly DDT, on wildlife. The book inspired wide outrage and helped spark the modern […]
-
An interesting thesis on why the disgraced Congressman suddenly switched on Cafta.
Did President Bush and the House leadership not only know about Mark Foley's predilection for page-chasing, but use their knowledge last year to blackmail him to vote "yes" on Cafta?
-
Forbes’ ‘Energy Outlook 2007’ makes bracing reading
Investment rags exist to fetishize the bottom line. They promise insights and information that can make their readers rich. People on the hunt for lucre need a clear-eyed view of how the world works -- the better to exploit conditions for profit.
That's the progressive case for monitoring the financial/business press. It's true, as far as it goes, though financial journalists are as susceptible as any others to hype, as their generally euphoric reaction to the dot-com bubble shows.
Business publications are also worth reading because they offer a window into the minds of captains of industry -- the people who yank the global economy's levers.
Forbes recently published a special issue titled Energy Outlook 2007. It's worth a look.
