Sustainability

EU ewww

Europe places outcome of Copenhagen squarely on Obama 2
Posted 3 weeks, 3 days ago Europe now predicts that a legally binding treaty is impossible to expect in Copenhagen, and that it could take up to a full year beyond the global summit this December in order to reach a binding deal.
Grace, Dignity, Climate and a New Book on Warming in the West

Climate change and God 0
Posted 3 weeks, 4 days ago
There's a great new book out called How the West Was Warmed about responding to climate change in the Rockies.
Yeah, we said billion

A $4 billion push to make affordable housing green 0
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago Today brings news of a major investment in making affordable housing greener, and an ambitious call for an even bigger national conversion. Find out who's behind it.
Sustainabull

Ask Umbra on writer’s block 0
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago A newly minted intern at a consulting firm has been asked to write about sustainability, but is feeling a bit tongue-tied. Umbra guides him through.
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.
don't get in the way, congress!

Growth in renewable energy outpaces nuclear, fossil fuels 2
Posted 2 months ago
Open Letter to Editors of 'The Nation'

‘Nation’ misses golden opportunity to highlight workers’ voices 2
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago The food movement is slowly waking up to the fact that it has long treated the workers who plant and pick our food as if they were invisible. So it was with great anticipation that I read The Nation's food issue, sure that a magazine with such a solid commitment to worker dignity would drive home the message that human and labor rights are integral to true sustainability.
Inside Newsweek’s new green corporate rankings 3
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago On Monday, Newsweek magazine unveiled its first annual Green Rankings, the fruits of a near-Herculean endeavor: rating and ranking the environmental performance, achievements, and reputation of the S&P 500. The resulting rankings are straightforward, almost elegant, but it wasn't a straight or easy path. Like most such rankings, they're imperfect.
how now, green Dow

Is the Dow Jones Sustainability Index worth a damn? 9
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
When the finance bigwig issued a recent review of green companies, the press rushed to cover it -- but should consumers care? We ask sustainable-business experts Joel Makower and Auden Schendler to weigh in.
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.
'TIME' for Change

Sustainable ag meets the MSM—and wins! 14
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
TIME Magazine's current cover story wants you to know that our fossil-fueled, chemically intensive industrial food system is destined to fail. The second part of that sentence isn't news to Grist readers. But the first part of that sentence is news, but I wouldn't have expected to read such a strong critique of Big Ag in a bastion of the MSM.
A new approach to sustainable business

Take the environment out of sustainability, argues former Sierra Club chief 4
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Adam Werbach, who made his name when he took the helm of the Sierra Club at age 23, has now written a how-to guide for companies to reframe the way they do business in a carbon-constrained, Twittering world.
Prison Break

Washington state prisons pursue sustainable practices, green-collar job training 5
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago
Can prisons save money and the environment while rehabilitating lives? Washington's Sustainable Prisons Project aims to find out.
How to Make Green Conferences Feel Less Like Capital Punishment

Sustainability conferences can be boring and terrible 3
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Sustainability conferences are now so ubiquitious that you can't swing a cat without hitting one. But I find myself massively dissatisfied by most (though not all) events, which typically bore the crap out of me.
Update: We're Still Screwed!

‘The Great Squeeze’ joins long list of doomsaying eco-films 3
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
The Great Squeeze, a documentary by director Christophe Fauchere (of 2007's film Energy Crossroads), is full of apocalyptic observations, none of which should surprise anyone even vaguely environmentally-minded.
Green Acres

How smart is your city? 1
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Cities matter -- to our health, as well as to the health of the planet. How we build our cities can play a very important role in preserving and protecting the environment.
Summer reading 0
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
I generally don't read business books. But Adam Werbach sent me his latest, Strategy for Sustainability, and darned if I didn't spend half my trip home from visiting my folks reading it.
Tuning in

Rothbury Music Festival rocks sustainability mission 1
Posted 5 months ago
Organizers of the Rothbury Music Festival being held this weekend in Michigan consider it to be "a party with a purpose." And that purpose -- as evidenced by their greening initiatives and educational events -- is sustainability.
There is no right word for doom if it's on page 13

We are what we think: Why the press fails us and how to fix it 6
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
Why has climate change not galvanized us? Why are there "pro" and "con" positions on insuring a livable planet?

The press must accept some of the blame.
Welcome to the JP Green House

In which we chronicle the creation of a groundbreaking eco-home 5
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
When the JP Green House is finished, it will be an eco-home like no other -- but there's a long way to go before that happens. Follow the adventures of Grist contributor Ken Ward and his family this summer, as they work to make their zero-carbon dream a reality.