by Amanda Little
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War and grease
The U.S. military’s battle to wean itself off oil 4
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago The U.S. military is the largest consumer of petroleum in the United States, and some top brass are very unhappy about that. One general stationed in Iraq, frustrated at seeing lives put at risk in fuel convoys, asked for "a self-sustainable energy solution," including "solar panels and wind turbines." Is the military really ready to embrace clean energy? Amanda Little went to the Pentagon to find out, in this final excerpt from her new book, Power Trip. Read More -
Short circuits
Our old electric grid is no match for our new green energy plans 4
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago To understand how electricity gets from a coal plant or wind turbine to our living rooms and cubicles, Amanda Little descended below the heaving streets of Manhattan for a first-hand look at the power grid. It wasn't pretty -- and it doesn't bode well for our transition to a clean energy future. Read More -
Cooking oil
Can you taste the fuels in your food? 5
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago To see fossil fuels in action on a farm, Amanda Little paid a visit to a Kansas corn grower and hitched a ride in his high-tech tractor. This is the fourth installment in a series of exclusive excerpts from Power Trip: From Oil Wells to Solar Cells -- Our Ride to the Renewable Future. Read More -
Road hogs
NASCAR and the high-octane American dream 11
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago A tour of America's energy landscape would be woefully incomplete without a visit to a NASCAR race, so Amanda Little trekked to the Talladega Superspeedway to get a first-hand view of the action. Don't miss this third installment in our series of exclusive excerpts from Power Trip: From Oil Wells to Solar Cells—Our Ride to the Renewable Future. Read More -
Over a barrel
Exploring the extreme frontiers of oil drilling 2
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago To witness firsthand the world’s most extreme drilling territory -- the Mount Everest of oil frontiers -- Amanda Little took a 175-mile helicopter trip to Chevron's "Cajun Express" oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. "I found the whole enterprise of deep-sea drilling doggedly ambitious, but also seemingly desperate—like an addict forcing a syringe into the earth’s innermost veins," she writes. Of course, the director of Chevron’s offshore drilling divisions sees it differently, as he explains while giving Little a tour of the rig. This is the second installment in a series of exclusive excerpts from "Power Trip: From… Read More -
Power Trip
A rollicking tour of America’s energy landscape 0
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago In her new book Power Trip, Amanda Little travels the U.S. to see America's energy crisis up close -- and to see the greener options that are poised to transform our economy and the world. She treks from deep-sea oil rigs to Kansas cornfields, NASCAR tracks to high-priced plastic-surgery clinics, Pentagon offices to her local produce aisle, and electric-car companies to zero-energy homes. Grist has exclusive excerpts and photos. Read More -
The first step is admitting you have a problem
Confessions of a fossil-fuel addict 2
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago You are right now completely surrounded by products of fossil fuels, from the screen you're reading to what you're wearing, eating, probably even sitting on. This same revelation sent Amanda Little on a surprising cross-country journey as she tried to come to grips with America's energy system. Read about it in an exclusive excerpt from her new book Power Trip. Read More -
Power Trip: A rollicking tour of America’s energy landscape
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Read More -
If you could CEQ her now
Coal is here to stay, says Obama’s chief environmental adviser 2
Posted 5 months ago "Clearly coal is a part of our energy mix now and it's likely to be so in the future," says Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In an exclusive interview, she also talks about economic stimulus, green jobs, and mountaintop-removal mining. Watch the video and read the highlights. Read More -
Action Jackson
EPA chief Lisa Jackson on mountaintop removal, climate legislation, toxics, and more 3
Posted 5 months ago The EPA can't stop mountaintop-removal mining under current law, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson tells Grist. In an exclusive interview, she also talks about climate legislation, toxics, environmental justice, and what it's like to be part of Obama's "green Cabinet." Watch the video and read the highlights. Read More
