by Ashley Braun. If the Earth’s population is going to keep skyrocketing as fast as cities are popping up skyscrapers, I suppose we’ll be needing mini-parks that attach to the sides of apartment buildings. If we ever want to see a little...

by Ashley Braun. “Great for containing your gusher and protecting your junk shot!” We can’t say we’re surprised to see such a clever combination of causes (oil clean-up and responsible reproduction). We’re just surprise...

by Grist. When we think of toxic wastelands, we usually think of the oil-soaked Gulf of Mexico or perhaps plastic-surgery queen Heidi Montag’s new body. But after taking a peak at the labels of everyday products we use to buff and shine ourselv...

by Agence France-Presse. WASHINGTON—A foundation that helped launch private spaceflight on Thursday turned its gaze and pocketbook toward Earth, unveiling a $1.4 million contest to find new ways to clean up oil spills. The year-long Wendy Sc...

by Tom Philpott. Many people claim they don’t have time to cook fresh meals “from scratch.” In Tom’s Kitchen, Grist’s food editor discusses some of the quick and easy things he gets up to in ... well, his kitchen. Forgiv...

by Adam Browning. While Congress was busy breaking our hearts and hopes for a clean energy future, guess what was happening in Delaware?  Progress, that’s what. Yesterday, Gov. Jack Markell (D) signed into law a suite of clean energy bills...

by Steph Larsen. Right now, I’m facing a problem shared by scores of farmers—beginning and experienced—across the country. I have four lambs that have been raised entirely on grass, and I know there are customers eager to buy them...

by Daniel J. Weiss. This article was cross-posted from the Center for American Progress. The Senate has taken Americans on an energy and climate roller coaster over the past year as Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and others a...

by Todd Woody. Judging by the comments on my previous post comparing the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and Nissan Leaf electric car, more than a few readers are suffering sticker shock at the price of greening their rides. Now there’s another...

by Randy Rieland. On Tuesday, ground was broken for what will likely become the largest wind farm in the country—600-some turbines in the Mojave Desert north of Los Angeles that will eventually provide electricity to 600,000 homes in Southern...

by Lester Brown. There are enormous opportunities to use energy more efficiently. Investing in energy efficiency is often far cheaper than expanding the energy supply to meet growing demand. Efficiency investments typically yield a high rate of ret...

by David Waldman. I think we all knew that the growing call for filibuster reform was going to meet with some resistance eventually. Well, here it is: Senior Democrats say Reid will not have the votes to change the rule at the beginning of next...

by Kate Sheppard. Waves thick with crude, tar-slicked beaches, and oil-soddened wildlife—it’s all visible evidence of the havoc that oil has wreaked in the Gulf. But marine scientists now fear that colorless, odorless natural ga...

by Bonnie Azab Powell. What comes to mind when you bite into a Lay’s® potato chip? Do you think: Mmmm, crunchycrispysaltyfatty junkfood goodness—I wonder how many calories are in these? I really should put this bag down now. Or do...

by Agence France-Presse. CHIGAGO—A new oil spill is sullying waters in Michigan after a pipeline leak sent more than a million gallons of crude into a river tributary, officials said Wednesday. The Environmental Protection Agency said the sp...

by David Roberts. ... Related Links: Cities of the Future Cafeteria Confidential: Behind the scenes in school kitchens Follow a drop of water

by Sen. Tom Udall. We have heard about obstruction in Congress, how the Senate is broken, and the desperate need of reform. I want to let you know that you are not alone. These frustrations are shared both inside and outside of the Senate. And yo...

by Matthew Yglesias. The filibuster stands today as the single most important impediment to the significant reforms needed in America’s climate/energy policies, its immigration policies, its labor law policies, and its need for a functionin...

by David Waldman. Besides blocking legislation that enjoys majority support from coming to a vote, the filibuster lies at the heart of a number of disruptive and anti-democratic practices in the Senate, including the so-called “secret hold....

by Mimi Marziani. (As delivered at Netroots Nation, 24 July 2010.) Debates about Senate procedural reform very often have constitutional undertones. For instance, at a recent hearing on filibuster reform before the Senate Rules Committee, Kansas...

by David Roberts. In the U.S. Senate, it requires 60 votes out of 100 to do anything—to proceed to debate, to pass a bill, to amend a bill, to confirm a political appointee or a judge—anything. This is not what the Founding Fathers en...

by Jonathan Hiskes. Arlington, Va., wants you to go on a car-free diet—and find love along the way. Because if there’s anything people enjoy on public transportation, it’s come-ons from strangers. More on Arlington’s Car-Free...

by Dan Lashof. The blame game began even before Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) made the official announcement that he would not bring a comprehensive climate and energy bill to the Senate floor. Reid himself placed the blame where it primar...

by Jonathan Waterman. Jonathan Waterman is the author of the book Running Dry about the Colorado River. Waterman, who infected his feet in the polluted remains of the drying river, walked with the photographer Pete McBride down the last...

by Climate Central. 2009 tied for the fifth-warmest year since the 1850s, and 2000-2009 was the warmest decade on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2009 State of the Climate report. Climate Central has a...

by Brad Johnson. This article was cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Democrats recently elected to the U.S. Senate have pressed their colleagues to ambitiously address climate and energy reform, and are frustrated by the lack of action. In a series...

by Agence France-Presse. UNITED NATIONS—The U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday recognized access to clean water and sanitation as a human right. After more than 15 years of debate on the issue, 122 countries voted in favor of a compromise to...

by Tom Philpott. Now that we’ve figured out why the climate bill died, it’s time to start thinking about the consequences. The failure doesn’t just mean that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions will continue inching up. It also means th...

by Jonathan Hiskes. Did land-use regulation contribute to the housing bubble? The idea is no comfort to Smart Growth fans, but it’s the conclusion of new research [PDF] from a pair of economists. Haifang Huang and Yao Tang, of the University o...

by David Roberts. With the climate bill officially dead, there’s already a trickle of “who’s to blame and what they should have done differently” pieces. I expect it will soon become a flood. Most of these pieces will focus in...