Tuesday, 02 Aug 2005

We Double-Dog Dare You!

Donate to Grist and you could win a Global Warming Survival Kit

When we ask y'all for money, we feel like Ralphie. We're all, "We want the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!" And you're all, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid." But we won't! We know how to use smart environmental journalism, and we always keep the safety on. Unlike Ralphie, we're in a position to bribe you: If you donate $50 to Grist (tax-deductible, of course!), you'll get a chance to win one of 10 Global Warming Survival Kits. Don't try to endure the coming post-apocalyptic hellscape without it! Donate to Grist today.

Ha-ha-ha-HA-ha!

Ivory-billed woodpecker skeptics recant, gush about sound recordings

"It's all moot at this point; the bird's here." So says Mark B. Robbins, one of the trio of skeptical scientists who had questioned the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker after the species had long been assumed extinct. What changed their minds? The bird's call. They had been skeptical of the short, grainy video that received so much publicity when the bird's reemergence was announced, but two of the scientists recently had a chance to listen to sound recordings of the woodpecker's call. "We were absolutely stunned," they said of the "astounding" recordings that "provide clear and convincing evidence" that the bird is back. They have cancelled plans to publish a paper in the journal Science calling the bird's comeback into doubt. "We sent them the sounds," said John Fitzpatrick, one of the scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who originally announced the woodpecker's return. "I wish we'd done that earlier."


We're tickled to announce the launch of The Grist List, a short weekly compendium of li'l bits and pieces of coolness from around the environmental world. Hip trends, nifty products, wacky events -- everything is fair game for The List (and you're invited -- inveigled, even! -- to send along suggestions to ). You can sign up to receive it via email or RSS, or drop by the Grist website to check it out every Tuesday. Today: Nature as Ritalin, a parking lot even a green could love, and more.

Too Many CNOOCs Spoil the Broth

Chinese oil firm withdraws takeover bid for Unocal

State-owned Chinese oil company CNOOC has announced the withdrawal of its $18.5 billion offer for Unocal, clearing the way for rival bidder Chevron Corp. -- which, we rush to assure you, is safely 'merican owned -- to purchase America's ninth-largest producer of oil. CNOOC, China's largest offshore oil and natural gas company, stated it was departing the field due to intense political opposition to the purchase in Washington, D.C. China and the U.S. are the world's two top consumers of oil, and CNOOC's desire for Unocal was perceived as an attempt to gain a secure hold on diminishing global energy reserves, as well as a reaction to growing U.S. control over Middle Eastern supplies. Many Washington lawmakers opposed the deal as a threat to America's long-term strategic energy interests. Wackily, a number of these same pols are beneficiaries of political largesse from Chevron.


Ah, there's nothing quite like a taxi ride: the ripped vinyl seats, the crackling talk radio, the sweet smell of Crown Victoria exhaust. But all that might be changing -- well, that last one, anyway -- as cities get hip to the new hybrid-cab trend. New York City recently made headlines by voting to green its yellow fleet, but that move is old news in Vancouver, British Columbia. Five years ago, Canadian cabbie Andrew Grant started ferrying fares in a Prius -- a savvy business move that earned him the coveted title of World's First Hybrid-Taxi Driver. Brendan Sainsbury hails Grant for a ride and a chat.

Heifer Madness

Thanks to booming dairy biz, cows out-pollute cars in California valley

In California's San Joaquin Valley, air-quality regulators are squaring off against the area's lucrative dairy industry over cow gas: Each dairy cow in the valley emits nearly 20 pounds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) a year, according to official estimates. (Sadly, more of the gas comes from burps than flatulence, sharply lowering humor emissions.) VOCs combine with other pollutants to cause ground-level ozone, and with 2.5 million bovines and counting in the valley, that makes cows -- not cars, trucks, or pesticides -- the leading cause of smog. Officials may require emission-control measures at feedlots and waste lagoons, and are considering regulating cow chow to control the animals' gassiness. Noting the area's high rates of childhood asthma, one eco-justice advocate calls the situation "a public health crisis." And community activist Tom Frantz says regulations can't come fast enough: "Our lungs will not become an agricultural subsidy."