Books | Grist

It Ain't Leviticus, but it is deuteronomy

Gore on the Daily Show: extended dance remix 0
Posted 3 weeks, 2 days ago The ex-veep turned in a stunning performance on The Daily Show last night, revolutionizing his own image and the -- oh, who are we kidding. He was solid, smart, and painfully right, as always. Take a look.
Just Freakin' Read It

Why the ‘SuperFreakonomics’ global-warming chapter is worth your time 12
Posted 3 weeks, 4 days ago There's plenty to jeer about in Superfreakonomics' treatment of global warming, but two ideas presented by the authors deserve greater discussion in the world of climate wonkery.
all about al

Reactions to Al Gore’s book o’ solutions, “Our Choice” 10
Posted 3 weeks, 5 days ago Tracking the best reviews, analyses, screeds, and tirades on the new book.
Contest: Come up with a title for Joseph Romm’s book 0
Posted 3 weeks, 5 days ago Joseph Romm and his publisher still haven’t come up with a title that works. The problem is that there are a great many books on climate and/or clean energy solutions coming out right now many with similar sounding titles.
The must-read solutions book by Al Gore 1
Posted 3 weeks, 5 days ago Al Gore’s new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, is not just a broad overview of the key strategies for preserving a livable climate -- it's also a truly beautiful book, replete with lush photos and simple but powerful charts. It's the anti-SuperFreakonomics, and it's sure to be widely attacked by the climate deniers and delayers.
Tim Flannery boils it down

Put a cap on it, America! 4
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago The U.S. Congress absolutely must pass climate legislation that puts a cap on the country's total carbon emissions, Australian climate activist Tim Flannery says. Failure to do so will undermine the international climate talks.
Climate cover-up

Blockbuster new book exposes anatomy of denial 0
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago James Hoggan and his DeSmogBlog.com posse might be our nation's most important sleuths -- and they ain't even from the United States.
‘SuperFreakonomics’ will misinform readers on climate science 2
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago The forthcoming SuperFreakonomics, written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, plays fast and loose with the scientific consensus on climate change.
Every day is climate action day...

A Savage way to save the world 3
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago We can't save the world through keystrokes or oar strokes alone. As Roz Savage's example shows us, we gotta get outside and stand together to save the planet. Stand together, not just on Blog Action Day or on October 24, but every day, in little and big ways. That's how movements become reality.
War and grease

The U.S. military’s battle to wean itself off oil 4
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks 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.
‘SuperFreakonomics’ is ‘patent nonsense’ 6
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago The new book by the authors of the bestseller Freakonomics spreads misinformation about climate change, solar cells, and geoengineering. Here's the real story.
Amanda Little talks energy on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ 0
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Short circuits

Our old electric grid is no match for our new green energy plans 4
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks 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.
Cooking oil

Can you taste the fuels in your food? 5
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks 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.
CRUDE AWAKENING

The violent twilight of oil and a strategy to expose it 1
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago An interview with journalist Peter Maass on why it doesn't matter what gas station you choose, and why oil is very bad for the people who live above it.
Road hogs

NASCAR and the high-octane American dream 11
Posted 1 month, 3 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.
Over a barrel

Exploring the extreme frontiers of oil drilling 2
Posted 1 month, 3 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 Oil Wells to Solar Cells—Our Ride to the Renewable Future."
The first step is admitting you have a problem

Confessions of a fossil-fuel addict 2
Posted 1 month, 3 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.
Talk about a culture jam

The social life of traffic 1
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
Who's responsible for that traffic jam you're sitting in? Hint: You, dude. Find out why human psychology has more to do with stuck cars than road engineering or that eternal construction project up ahead.
Meet the star of ‘No Impact Man’: No Impact Woman 3
Posted 3 months ago
Michelle Conlin is the real star of the No Impact Man movie, dragged by her husband into a year of eco-asceticism. The whole arrangement is an elaborate publicity stunt, but it works on the screen.