September 8, 2010
by David Gumpert.
Resistance has a glorified history in this country, beginning with the founding fathers, and extending to the labor and civil rights movements last century. We honor one of the resisters, Dr. Martin Luther King, with a national holiday.
The ranks of food resisters are now expanding rapidly. Driven by increasingly harsh crackdowns by local and federal agencies on small producers and distributors of unpasteurized (raw) milk and other…
by Ashley Braun.
The adventures of daily life are many and varied and often include decisions that don’t really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. However, I find these are often the hardest choices to make.
Take dinner, for example. Sometimes I just want to know what the f**k I should make for dinner that day. As a vegetarian, not just any f**king dinner will do. And did I mention that I f**king love “choose your own adventure” books?
…
by Claudine Benmar.
Today, Chicago is overflowing with architects who know the ins and outs of the LEED rating system, but just a few years ago John Albrecht was one of the first. He worked on the Center for Green Technology—the city building that started it all -– as well as several green building projects that followed. He’s now in private practice, with the firm NELSON. He shared his thoughts on…
by Kari Richardson.
Skyscrapers and other enormous buildings are environmental horror shows. Countless tons of steel, concrete, and glass are required to build them. Endless streams of energy keep them warm enough in winter and cool enough in summer. Lights and computers are kept on all night long. And just imagine the water that goes into flushing all those toilets.
So you might…
by Stephen Hale.
There is nothing more fundamental about our relationship with Nature than the species we eat.
One evening, while trying to discern exactly what was in the bean casserole my traveling wife had kindly left in the fridge, I wondered: What is the biodiversity of my diet? How many plant and animal species do I consume regularly? And where did they come from?
Later I compiled a species list from one typical day for four meals: breakfast (cereal and…
by David Roberts.
As you may have heard, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) dropped a hint last week that he may still try to get a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) into the Senate energy bill. According to Reid, there are two Republicans talking about supporting it, one of them likely…
by Tom Laskawy.
On the heels of Canada’s recently announced ban on bisphenol-A (BPA), the New York Times has a substantial report reviewing the state of the science regarding the safety of this substance. Used primarily to line food and drink cans, some studies have shown BPA to be…
by Agence France-Presse.
LONDON—Failures by BP and other companies led to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, BP concluded on Wednesday as it sought to defend itself against possible multi-billion-dollar lawsuits.
As expected, BP’s inquiry did not admit “gross negligence” for the oil rig explosion in late April that killed 11 people and caused the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.
The report did put forward 25 recommendations, including…
by Randy Rieland.
Today, BP leaned on its sword. In a report based on its own investigation, BP does accept some responsibility for the oil well explosion that killed 11 people and dumped 4.1 million barrels of crude into the Gulf. But it concludes that there’s plenty of blame to spread around.
So it goes.
Partners in slime: As expected, BP says no single mistake caused the well to blow up, but rather a “complex and…
by Grist.
Join us at Noon PDT (3pm Eastern) on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 when Grist founder Chip Giller hosts a live chat with Bill McKibben, environmentalist and author of The End of Nature and Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. With…