Grist | Topics | 162 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 25 of 162
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Urban hawk attacks	biodiversivist	24 Sep 2008	Gristmill
I received a strange phone call yesterday from my youngest daughter. 'Dad, a hawk is eating Pinkfoot!' Pinkfoot was my daughter's Bantam hen, which won Best in Show at the fair this summer. I raced home to find a fairly large hawk making short work of said hen and it had no intention of leaving until finished with its meal. I don't know what species it is. Maybe someone can identify it in the comments. My daughter was upset but not unduly so. She wants to be a farme ...
Topics: biodiversity, Seattle, wildlife (all these topics)

50 most sustainable cities	David Roberts	23 Sep 2008	Gristmill
SustainLane's annual ranking of the sustainability of America's 50 largest cities is out. Grist is happy to be located in No. 3 overall, No. 2 in knowledge base, No. 2 in energy and climate change, No. 2 in green economy, and No. 3 in city innovation. There's no margin in being No. 1 -- draws too much attention and pressure. Special shout out to Kansas City for having the cleanest tap water.
Topics: Seattle, placemaking, innovation (all these topics)

Portland: Trail Blazers Portland, Ore., tops sustainable-cities ranking		22 Sep 2008	News
Posted at 5:11 PM on 22 Sep 2008 For the fourth year in a row, Portland, Ore., has been named the most sustainable of the 50 largest U.S. cities. The rankings by green org SustainLane, which take 16 economic and quality-of-life factors into consideration, "reveal which cities are increasingly self-sufficient, prepared for the unexpected, and taking steps toward preserving and enhancing their quality of life," says ...
Topics: Chicago, lists, news, placemaking, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, urban planning (all these topics)

Ten strikes and still not out Biofuels: not cost-effective or lucrative for climate change or business	biodiversivist	03 Sep 2008	Gristmill
According to this article in Mongabay, a study from a British think tank is calling for an end to subsidies for biofuels based on -- not biodiversity loss and high food prices -- cost effectiveness. The economics is startling -- if developed countries spent the same amount of money on preventing deforestation and the destruction of peatlands as they do on biofuel subsidies (US $15 billion), this would halve the total costs of tackling climate change. In addition to t ...
Topics: Seattle, energy subsidies, business, ethanol, biofuels, energy (all these topics)

Brings back memories	David Roberts	16 Aug 2008	Gristmill
I was working downtown when all this went down -- smelled a little tear gas, got escorted out of my building by a gauntlet of fully armored riot police. Looking back, I wish I'd had a better sense of the significance at the time.
Topics: grassroots activism, Seattle, video, World Trade Organization (all these topics)

Southern exposure The hybrid solar home, part 2	biodiversivist	14 Aug 2008	Gristmill
My thoughts have turned lately to the challenge of heating and powering residential homes in the Pacific Northwest with renewable energy. My goal was not to just find a way to reduce fossil fuel use, but to eliminate it. When I started this exercise I wasn't at all sure it could be done (in an affordable manner). Here in the Seattle area we average a little more than two clear days a month for six months of the year! Back in January, I mulled over the concept of a ...
Topics: green building, green living, hybrids, Seattle, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Street arts Artists and environmentalists team up to create vibrant cityscapes	Sarah van Schagen	18 Jul 2008	Gristmill
The Olympic Sculpture Park. Photo: Jeff Wilcox. 'Cities are what's going to get us out of this mess ... and what makes cities livable is art.' That was the take-home message, summarized by Cascade Land Conservancy President Gene Duvernoy, following a discussion Thursday on art and the environment at the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park. Built on nine acres of restored urban green space, the Olympic Sculpture Park was a fitting backdrop for a di ...
Topics: art, environmental movement, green living, green space, placemaking, public lands, Seattle (all these topics)

Driven to extinction How transportation wonks can make your city rank	Eric de Place	16 Jul 2008	Gristmill
Here's an interesting ranking. For each major U.S. city, the list-happy editors at Men's Health calculated the negative effects of driving. They aggregated scores on transit ridership, air pollution, fuel consumption, and driving miles. (Presumably, the data are for metropolitan areas, not city limits.) Northwest cities do exceptionally well: Seattle ranks number one, Portland ranks third, and Spokane is eighth. Men's Health doesn't appear to include a methodo ...
Topics: placemaking, Portland, public transportation, Seattle, urban planning (all these topics)

Walker, Grist Ranger A big welcome to Grist's new executive editor	David Roberts	16 Jul 2008	Gristmill
As far as I know there's been no official announcement about this, so I thought I'd spread the good news to you loyal blog readers. I'm completely geeked to report that as of this week, Grist has a new executive editor: Russ Walker, most recently seen heading election coverage for the online newsroom at the Washington Post. Here's what Russ's WaPo bosses had to say about him by way of farewell: This is a well-deserved bump up to top dog for Russ. He's been one of t ...
Topics: Seattle (all these topics)

Nice to forget about the day job for a while	David Roberts	28 Jun 2008	Gristmill
You know you're in Seattle when you get a 'severe weather advisory' warning you that the temperature might get up into ... the mid-80s. Maybe even above 90! Anyway, summer has finally come to Seattle. I've been out working in the yard all day, shoveling and spreading mulch, getting a head start on my flip-flop tan. Good times.
Topics: Seattle (all these topics)

Muddy footprints What a ranking of cities can tell us -- and what it can't	Eric de Place	30 May 2008	Gristmill
There's a big carbon footprint report out yesterday from Brookings. It ranks cities [PDF] according to their per capita carbon emissions. Sort of, anyway. Before I pick on it a little, I guess I should mention that Pacific Northwest cities do exceptionally well. Out of the 100 cities in the analysis, Portland ranks 3rd, Boise is 5th, and Seattle 6th. There's very little difference between them. That's wonderful and all, but the analysis only covers about 50 pe ...
Topics: climate, ecological footprint, greenhouse-gas emissions, placemaking, public transportation, Seattle (all these topics)

Friday music blogging: Fleet Foxes 'Baroque harmonic pop' to soothe your troubled soul	David Roberts	23 May 2008	Gristmill
The headline from The Stranger's feature story on Fleet Foxes tells the story: Fleet Foxes Are Not Hippies Don't Let the Floppy Hats, Jesus Beards, and Five-Part Vocal Harmonies About Rivers, Trees, and Sunshine Throw You Ha. The first time I heard the band, they came up on shuffle and I thought it was the new album from My Morning Jacket ...
Topics: music, Seattle (all these topics)

Danny sings the blues Seattle Times columnist needs a new ride	biodiversivist	07 May 2008	Gristmill
Via the Sunday Seattle Times: Danny Westneat has wrecked his car and needs a new ride. Now, I don't expect it to be easy being green. But this is ridiculous. What was hailed as our leading green alternative to petroleum [biodiesel] is now an affront to humanity? I wonder which print media gave him this false impression that biodiesel was our leading green alternative? But when we asked around about biodiesel, it didn't take long before the scolding started. Biodie ...
Topics: biofuels, cars, energy, oil, Seattle (all these topics)

The dream reborn Ron Sims on MLKJr., climate change, and green jobs	Patrick Mazza	04 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Ron Sims, the African-American executive of a county whose name now honors Martin Luther King Jr., has led efforts to make King County one of the climate leaders among American counties. In today's Climate Solutions Journal, he writes about Dr. King's dream and how it connects to climate change, green jobs, and social justice. (County residents a number of years ago decided to shift from honoring 19th century slaveowner and political figure Rufus King to MLKJr. Recen ...
Topics: grassroots activism, green jobs, politics, Seattle (all these topics)

Sack It to 'Em Seattle mayor proposes fee for paper and plastic bags		03 Apr 2008	News
Posted at 11:08 AM on 03 Apr 2008 Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has proposed a 20-cent fee for both paper and plastic bags in grocery, convenience, and drug stores in the city to discourage their use. "The answer to the question 'Paper or plastic?' should be 'Neither,'" Nickels said. "Both harm the environment. Every piece of plastic ever made is still with us in the environment, and the best way to handle waste is ...
Topics: news, politics, Seattle, waste (all these topics)

The sweet smell of victory Seattle gets five more blocks of bike lanes	biodiversivist	02 Apr 2008	Gristmill
In this post, I talked about Seattle's efforts to improve bicycle safety. I mentioned that the busiest part of a key road was not striped, thanks to pressure from a local real estate baron who didn't want business disrupted. This created a dangerous gauntlet to run as bikers left the bike lane to start their long, hard slog uphill. I'm happy to report that the city has since reconsidered, and it has made a world of difference for safety. Which gives me the opportun ...
Topics: bikes, cars, green living, placemaking, Seattle (all these topics)

Grey's anatomy Victim of Seattle arsons reaffirms commitment to green building	David Roberts	05 Mar 2008	Gristmill
As Grist readers know -- and are furiously debating -- there were some arsons in Seattle on Monday which have been attributed to shadowy (perhaps mythical) activist group Earth Liberation Front. The following is a letter to Grist from the owner of one of the houses that was destroyed, Grey Lundberg of CMI Homes, Inc: I am writing you today in reference to your recent article "Know Thy ELF: 'Eco-Terrorism' Suspected in Seattle-area Arson." I am the ...
Topics: Earth Liberation Front, grassroots activism, green building, placemaking, politics, Seattle (all these topics)

Know Thy ELF 'Eco-terrorism' suspected in Seattle-area arson		03 Mar 2008	News
Posted at 11:18 AM on 03 Mar 2008 Four unoccupied multimillion-dollar homes burned in a Seattle suburb Monday in what officials have reason to believe was eco-related arson. Explosives were found in the homes, and a spray-painted sign out front -- "Built green? Nope black! McMansions in RCDs r not green" -- bore the initials of radical environmental group the Earth Liberation Front. The Woodinville, Wash., homes were built wi ...
Topics: Earth Liberation Front, eco-terrorism, environmental movement, grassroots activism, news, placemaking, Seattle (all these topics)

Green power empowerment Events in Seattle and Portland sure to inspire	Erik Hoffner	28 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Renewable energy installations in remote communities of developing nations encourage indigenous and rural communities to stay put and keep their traditions alive. With remarkably small power systems, these underserved villages can store vaccines in a refrigerator, pump water, light a clinic at night, or contact the outside world. One of the key grassroots groups doing this work is Green Empowerment, which approaches all of their projects in Central/South America a ...
Topics: energy, Portland, renewable energy, Seattle (all these topics)

Stadium Barack Obama takes the stage in Seattle to rally support for Saturday's state caucuses	Katy Balatero	08 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Barack Obama's speech in Seattle today made this 26-year-old feel positively old. I and a few other Gristers hopped a bus over to the rally in Key Arena and were greeted by a stadium overflowing with supporters, many of them high school and college students. I overheard an usher say 'I dont see this kind of support for [Seattle's basketball team] the Sonics anymore.' (The venue holds 18,000 people: by speech time it was over capacity, with people crowded on the floor, ...
Topics: Seattle, politics, elections, presidential race 08, Barack Obama (all these topics)

A desire named streetcar Transportation planning with people in mind	Eric de Place	12 Dec 2007	Gristmill
Say what you will about streetcars, they have an unmatched appeal. I mean, there must be a reason why it's hard to imagine a smoldering love affair between Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh with a bus theme. Or, as the inimitable Dan Savage says: Why is this so hard to understand? ... People like trains. People hate buses. To wit, the Seattle P-I recently interviewed folks about the new Seattle streetcar and elicited what I imagine are fairly ...
Topics: placemaking, public transportation, Seattle (all these topics)

Transportation and climate get hitched Seattle-area voters tied the knot	Eric de Place	07 Nov 2007	Gristmill
In the Seattle metro region, voters just sank an $18 billion transportation megaproposal that would have built more than 180 lanes miles of highway and 50 miles of light rail. But so far, the mainstream press has missed one of the most important stories of the year. The real story isn't tax fatigue, it's this: perhaps for the first time ever in the U.S., a critical bloc of voters linked transportation choices to climate protection. In the run-up to the vote, a surpr ...
Topics: cars, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, local politics, placemaking, politics, public transportation, Seattle (all these topics)

Seattle meets Kyoto Is there another side to Seattle's good news?	Clark Williams-Derry	01 Nov 2007	Gristmill
This is excellent news: Seattle is one of the first major U.S. cities to claim it has cut greenhouse-gas emissions enough to meet the targets of the international Kyoto treaty aimed at combating global warming. The achievement, at a time when the city has enjoyed a boom in population and jobs, sets Seattle apart both from the nation as a whole and other cities that have seen greenhouse gases soar in recent years. Well, good on Seattle. But at r ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, Seattle (all these topics)

Me, at the USCMCPS Mayors gather in Seattle to discuss climate	David Roberts	01 Nov 2007	Gristmill
Today I'm heading down to the [deep breath] United States Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Summit, taking place in my hometown of Seattle. Around 100 mayors from across the nation will be there, discussing how to green their cities. NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg is giving the keynote today, Al Gore will make a special appearance by satellite this afternoon, and Bill Clinton's speaking this evening. I'll do what I can to bring you all the hot sexy action on the b ...
Topics: Seattle, climate, climate change mitigation (all these topics)

Get your industrial agrodiesel here Profit motive is eating the planet	biodiversivist	18 Oct 2007	Gristmill
The opening of the Propel Biofuels public pump was a smallish affair. The crowd of about thirty people appeared to consist mostly of investors, public relations personnel, some alternative energy enthusiasts, lots of press, and at least one lawyer. Because of the twelve-hour notice, and because it was in the middle of the week, only two protesters made it. There is going to be a bigger protest this Saturday (October 20), same place, same time (high noon, at the p ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, grassroots activism, local politics, politics, Seattle (all these topics)

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