Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Climate & Energy

BURNING QUESTIONS In wildfire-riddled Tennessee, climate change is a hot topic Residents blame drought, and some point to climate.

DAKOTA ACCESS Obama can’t really do much about Standing Rock Activists are calling on the president to intervene, but he has little power to stop the pipeline.

DAKOTA ACCESS The backstory on Standing Rock, the federal government, and tribal sovereignty A primer on the body of law that has everything to do with the Dakota Access Pipeline.

DAKOTA ACCESS Trump supports finishing Dakota Access. Standing Rock also saw a small victory in the form of a letter from Wells Fargo to tribal elders.

SHINE ON 5 lessons activists can learn from Florida’s successful ballot fight to defend solar Floridians voted Republican on Nov. 8, and at the same time they rejected an anti-solar ballot amendment.

UPHILL BATTLE Bill McKibben: Trump presidency “demands fierce resistance” Here are some tips for persevering through the next four years.

OPINION Want to convince Trump to care about climate? Scaremongering about refugees won’t help. Military leaders are warning about climate change causing an 'unimaginable' refugee crisis. But we should help migrants, not demonize them.

TRUMP'S AMERICA Our government is now getting its science news from science-denying Breitbart. The dystopian nightmare seems to be descending sooner than we thought.

LAND RIGHTS AND WRONGS Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by a whopping 29 percent this year — but there’s a way to slow it. According to satellite imagery, loggers depleted 3,000 square miles of the Amazon from August 2015 to July 2016. That may be partially attributable to funding cuts that have hamstrung the government agency responsible for monitoring illegal logging. In 2004, Brazil created …

NOT DEAD YET! The Great Barrier Reef is still dying, still refuses to die. It's sort of like that time the whole family said goodbye to Great-Uncle Fred only to have him show up at Christmas dinner two weeks later, wheeling an oxygen cart.

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT OPEC agrees to cut 1.2 million barrels a day, pleasing U.S. oil companies. But the cartel has a hard time sticking to its agreements.

REMEMBER THAT TIME... This is your brain on climate change. Grist's journalism is powered by readers like you.

OK, WE'LL BITE Is Ivanka Trump a secret climate hawk? Probably not, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. An anonymous source told Politico that Ivanka Trump plans to make climate change a signature issue.

GETTING WARMER What’s a greener way to heat my home? A reader wonders which is better -- a heat pump or a high-efficiency gas furnace. Advice columnist Umbra Fisk warms to the topic.

PLANET EARTH Watch changes on the ol’ Blue Marble unfold in gorgeous, alarming satellite images. Zoom out and it's easy to see how quickly we're changing the world.

FOR FRACK'S SAKE The EPA downplayed its findings in its study of fracking’s impact on drinking water. Early drafts of the report highlighted water contamination, but the final version was more fracking-friendly.

D'OH Obama just missed a big chance to boost wind power The federal government doesn’t favor renewable projects over fossil fuels on public land. It should.

DAKOTA ACCESS After a failed police crackdown, North Dakota now plans to attack activists with fines. But will North Dakota officials fine the 'human shields' traveling to Standing Rock this weekend?

DAPL How economics are driving the Dakota Access Pipeline The powers behind the project will benefit, but almost no one else will.

BREAKING HEARTS Canada’s Justin Trudeau approved two controversial pipelines and rejected a third. Trudeau just lost his charm.

TIME TO WAKE UP This senator has given 150 pleas for climate action. Now, he has a few words for Trump. 'I encourage President-elect Trump to listen to these voices of reason and expertise, not to the Swamp Things.'

WHO'S THE HOSER, NOW? Even Canada’s Texas is ahead of most of the U.S. on climate policy. Canada's fossil fuel-rich province is trying to get off coal.

CC ANONYMOUS This nine-step program is like Alcoholics Anonymous for climate anxiety. The first step in the program is admitting there's a problem.

DAKOTA ACCESS Here’s what Standing Rock looked like on Thanksgiving. Watch on-the-scene footage of water protectors.

SUPPORT GROUPS Environmental organizations see an outpouring of support post-election 'Apparently the sixth stage of grief is activism.'

SOLID RED It’s not just D.C.: Republicans dominated elections at the state level this year, too. State politics matter, too. Now more than ever.

BAD SANTA The Heartland Institute has a horrific holiday wish list for Trump. Like white supremacists, climate deniers think they are about to get an ally in the White House.

#SONOWWHAT So now what? Leaders from the Grist 50 on hope and progress in the Trump era Business leaders, activists, and more talk next steps.

THE MEDIA'S BEEN TRUMPED Trump spun his climate denial to the New York Times and lots of people fell for it No, the president-elect's views on climate change have not shifted.

#SONOWWHAT Watch Bill Nye explain why he has hope post-election. 'We can do this. It’s in everybody’s best interest.'

NICE TRY Donald Trump may have an “open mind” on climate change now, but he’ll still strip NASA of funding. Don't listen to how Donald Trump feels about climate change today -- listen to what he's going to do for climate research.

DARK DAYS REI and Patagonia are making Black Friday slightly less awful. These are good ideas -- but also astute marketing.

OPINION As U.S. retreats from climate leadership, China steps up. Beware. Climate change diplomacy is about to have its League of Nations moment.

GREENING FAITH For Muslim environmentalists, the fight just got a lot harder Looking ahead to four years of Trump, Muslims double down to fight climate change and Islamophobia.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST, ANYONE? Trump is still ranting against a wind farm being built near his Scottish golf course. It's yet another indication that he has no qualms at all about mixing politics and business.

EEP-A What to expect when you’re expecting a Trump-run EPA? Watch our video on what the EPA will look like come Jan. 20.

CLIMATE CHANGE OF HEART Trump claims an “open mind” about the Paris agreement He changed his stance on climate change -- again.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS Trump vows to create jobs by cutting regulations. That won’t work. Overregulation isn't the reason the fossil fuel industry has lost so many jobs in the past couple of years.

#SONOWWHAT Bernie Sanders tells us how to fight for the climate in the Trump era. 'Our job is to mobilize and educate and to fight back at every instance.'

TINDER TO BURN 102 million dead trees in California since 2010 will make for one helluva wildfire season. Hella flammable.

#SONOWWHAT Environmental leaders on hope and progress in the age of Trump Bernie Sanders, Annie Leonard, and more on where we go from here.

DAKOTA ACCESS White House stays quiet after police confrontation at Standing Rock Law enforcement blasted protesters with water, pepper spray, and rubber bullets Sunday night.

WHAT A TEASE Watch the trailer for the next big climate film. An upcoming documentary features big names and creative thinkers.

POLITICS The EPA chief’s post-election message: Keep calm and carry on. 'The train to a global, clean energy future has already left the station.'

OUT WITH THE OLD It’s even easier than you thought for Republicans to repeal President Obama’s environmental protections. An obscure Gingrich-era law will let Congress undo Obama-era rules.

A QUAKE-UP CALL Oklahomans are suing frackers over earthquakes. Pawnee, Okla., has seen nearly 800 earthquakes in the past year, including the biggest one ever recorded in the state.

COP22 With or without the U.S., the world’s going to move forward on climate change COP22 wraps up with countries determined (for now) to keep Paris Agreement on track.

SPECIAL REPORT Without the Clean Power Plan, our climate future is up to the states In the states already hit hard by climate change, action is urgent — with or without the federal government.

WINGING IT What type of plane is least bad for the planet? No plane is good for the climate, but some are better than others. Advice columnist Umbra Fisk reveals why.

JUSTICE LEAGUE How comics can help us talk about climate change What can superheroes teach us about bigger issues? Watch and learn.

BOLT FROM THE BLUE A new satellite will save lives — with lightning GOES-R will teach us a lot about extreme weather and our changing climate.

THANKS BUT Obama could still permanently protect the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Here’s how. The Interior Department's five-year plan limits oil and gas leasing, but could be undone by Trump.

COP22 The Marrakech climate talks still aren’t over, but here’s what’s gone down so far. There are a few notable outcomes already ironed out, even if negotiators are still scrambling on the final text.

THANKS OBAMA Obama halts new oil drilling in the Arctic — for now. The Department of the Interior just threw a wrench in Trump’s plan to open up the Arctic.

HOW CRUDE Oh god, they’ve discovered even more oil in Texas. This could be the largest supply of oil ever found in the United States.

VANISHING ACT Um, where did all of the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice just go? Yet another reason 2016 is not a normal year.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE Pulling out of the Paris Agreement is a bad idea. Even Bill O’Reilly knows that. The Fox News host and a major economic coalition agree: Don't dump the climate agreement.

DEEDS NOT WORDS If this Republican donor loves clean energy, then why did he back fossil-fuel friendly candidates? Jay Faison's ClearPath Action backed 15 candidates for Congress, and 13 won.

THE FIGHT AHEAD Inside the climate movement’s Trump-fighting strategy It will take a combination of political, legal, and social pressure to reduce his damage to climate action and environmental protection.

SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE What’s better: New solar panels or old hydropower? A reader wonders about the benefits of solar panels since her local grid is already pretty green. Umbra plugs in.

BOY BYE Donald Trump thinks climate change is a Chinese hoax. China begs to differ. China is showing Trump the receipts to disprove his most famous statement on climate change.

A LI'L COLOR IN THE IVORY TOWER It’s a pretty good time to catch up on your environmental justice reading. What do you focus on first: Environmental degradation or state violence? Start by understanding how they're related.

WELL, THAT SNOWBALLED QUICKLY Climate denier Barrasso to replace climate denier Inhofe as head of Senate environment committee. Barrasso is not likely to be much more of an advocate for the environment than his predecessor.

PLUGGING AWAY The Department of Interior finalized a new rule to limit methane leakage on federal and Native American land. Just in the nick of time.

LET THE CLIMATE HAWKS SOAR Climate hawks unite! Meet the newest members of Congress who will fight climate change. Some candidates with strong climate credentials are headed to Congress.

DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE Meet one young woman who took up the fight at Standing Rock 'If I've ever called myself a warrior, this is the time to show who I am.'

TRUMP CHANGE China urges Trump not to back out of climate deal. 'It is global society’s will that all want to cooperate to combat climate change.'

PENGUIN PAL John Kerry spent Election Day in Antarctica, just like you wish you had. Now he's back, just in time to let us know how much we have to do.

GOOD NEWS COP 22 Countries announced a new global partnership to deliver on their Paris Agreement goals. “If we try to go it alone in limiting global warming, we will fail.”

BAKKEN BUSINESS Trump and his key advisors stand to profit from the Dakota Access Pipeline. Trump invested up to $1 million in the company building the pipeline.

COP22 No, Trump’s election hasn’t derailed the U.N. climate conference Why there’s (some) cause for optimism at the U.N. climate talks

MAIS NON Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a carbon tax on American-made goods if Trump pulls out of climate accord. The former French president and current candidate for reelection responded to Trump's claim that he'd pull out of the Paris Agreement.

COAL REALITY Mitch McConnell has already admitted GOP promises to out-of-work coal miners won’t come true. The Senate Majority leader walked back expectations for a coal industry revival.

COP22 The future of U.S. climate action doesn’t look great, but cities around the world are stepping up. The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy will make sure cities are picking up our climate action slack moving forward.

STANDING ROCK Trump’s victory could be a big win for the Dakota Access Pipeline, but opponents stand strong Conflicting reports indicate the Obama administration might approve the pipeline even before Trump takes office.

NO PAY PAL OF MINE Young tech entrepreneur takes the money Peter Thiel gave him, donates it to climate fight. In the wake of Thiel's appointment as a member of Donald Trump's transition team, one fellow announced he's quitting.

CLOUD NEIN Cloud spy cams could make solar panels work better. Cloud-spotting spycams can make the grid run more smoothly.

INTERIOR DESIGN Obama’s Interior makes it easier to build renewable energy on public land in Trump era. Good timing.

PROMISES, PROMISES Donald Trump promises to revive the coal industry. He can’t. Trump can't save Big Coal, but he can seriously damage the planet.

FROM THE EDITOR Let’s fight for the future we want Grist must shine its beacon brighter than ever.

POLAR OPPOSITES The Senate lost some more GOP climate moderates. There are fewer non-climate change deniers than ever among Republican senators.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS Trying to cope with the election? Brexit strugglers share their tips. Many young voters feel disenfranchised by moves fueled by xenophobia and racism, with dire consequences for the climate.

DAVID VS GOLIATH California county bans fracking, even though big oil spent big money to stop it. There's a small bit of good news on the fracking front.

COAL IN EVERY STOCKING Trump will be the fossil fuel industry’s greatest gift From oil execs in the Cabinet to scrapping air pollution regs, the Trump agenda is terrible. But can he do it all?

SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE Clean technology will move forward despite a Trump administration. “The world is moving forward, with or without us.”

THE BIG BANK THEORY Is your bank funding the Dakota Access Pipeline? Here’s how to find a new bank. Dozens of big banks have made loans to the company building the controversial pipeline. Take your money elsewhere, advises Umbra Fisk.

FRACKING-A Colorado voters just made it a lot harder to pass fracking bans. Campaigners still hope to run another ballot measure to legalize local fracking bans in 2018.

KING COAL West Virginia’s top mine safety delinquent is also its new governor. Jim Justice promises to create fossil fuel jobs and ignore climate change.

GRIN AND BEAR IT Global climate activists try not to freak out over Trump’s win It's not easy.

DEATH AND CARBON TAXES Washington state voters rejected a carbon-tax ballot initiative. I-732 would have been a groundbreaking climate policy, but it was opposed not just by big business but by many environmentalists too.

ELECTION 2016 Trump’s win is a deadly threat to stopping climate change. It will take time to fully process the damage Trump will do.

KEY RACE ALERT! Florida voted down an anti-solar initiative. Utilities were pushing a deceptive amendment that would have discouraged rooftop solar, but voters shot it down.

DAKOTA ACCESS Tim Kaine says a Dakota Access reroute would be “the right thing to do.” Though far from robust, Kaine’s support marks one of the first times the Clinton camp has made any mention of Dakota Access.

BROKEN RECORDS The last five years were — say it with me — the hottest five years on record. Deja vu, all over again.

ELECTION 2016 This really is a climate change election You might not recognize it from the media coverage, but the issue was critical throughout the campaign.

WHERE THERE'S KOCH THERE'S FIRE The Koch brothers and their buddies are trying to kill a carbon-tax ballot initiative in Washington state. Oddly, that puts them on the same side as Van Jones, Naomi Klein, and some other environmental and social justice activists.

DAKOTA ACCESS Environmentalists are raising the pressure on Obama over Dakota Access. Activists are mobilizing to force the administration to stop the pipeline project and protect protesters.

FOSSIL FOOLS Oil industry’s sneaky plan could make it nearly impossible to ban fracking in Colorado A ballot initiative might thwart efforts for local fracking bans.

YOU SHOOK ME OIL NIGHT LONG A big earthquake hit Oklahoma’s oil hub, and the oil industry likely has itself to blame. Cushing, Oklahoma, was shaken on Sunday night by a 5.0 magnitude temblor.

COP22 U.N. climate conference kicks off under shadow of U.S. election Negotiators in Marrakech will tackle three big issues related to last year's landmark Paris agreement.

SMALL WONDERS Where’s the clean power revolution? Try small-town America. An 8-minute documentary shows how communities are moving forward.

FALL BACK Hate daylight saving time? Here’s what it would take to ditch it. For starters, it would require overcoming an army of lobbyists.

BLOCK PARTY Now you can use Google to organize your neighbors around solar. Setting up a community solar project? Google's got you covered.

IT'S NOT JUST YOU Why don’t we talk about climate change more? Thinking or talking about climate change makes people shut down. How do we change that?

PSA The Paris climate accord is a big fucking deal, now more than ever The massive international agreement becomes official today, not that anyone will notice.

DAKOTA ACCESS What’s going on with the Dakota Access Pipeline? Let us explain. It's a mess.

MAKE AMERICA GREEN AGAIN Ballot measures to watch on Election Day A carbon tax, plastic bag ban, and renewables are all up for a vote this year.

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT Will Florida’s voters be fooled into passing an anti-solar amendment? The utility industry is pushing a ballot measure that pretends to support rooftop solar while actually undermining it.

TRUMP DUMP A reality check on Trump’s big idea to fix the budget. Trump wants to fight the deficit by stopping the climate change fight. It doesn't work that way.

SMOG CHECK Can California get anyone other than rich people to buy electric vehicles? The state government is changing its EV rebate system and trying to answer that question.

DO THE MATH For every ton of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere, we lose 32 square feet of Arctic sea ice. That's a sizable slab.

MIND THE GAP Even with climate pledges, the world’s on track to warm by more than 2 degrees. That's a lot of gigatons of carbon emissions by 2030.

COME WORK WITH US You know you want to be a Grist fellow. And now you have more time to apply. Apply by November 14.

BIOPHILIA Is Iceland over? The planet's hippest vacay destination may have crested the cusp of desirability. We present the evidence.

SMOKE MONSTER Climate change is scarier than vampires — just ask Ian Somerhalder The actor talked with us about the documentary series 'Years of Living Dangerously.'

COAL CASE Fossil fuel workers want a piece of the growing renewable market. Canadian oil and gas workers get it.

DAKOTA ACCESS President Obama says the Dakota Access Pipeline could get rerouted. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's chairman says he believes the Obama administration 'will do the right thing.'

DESSERTIFICATION What if you could understand climate models better by eating them? Experimental philosopher and artist Jonathon Keats thinks 'anthropocenic sorbets' could be the key to understanding climate change.

OUTTA SIGHT, MAN Jeff Bezos wants to save the planet by moving industry off it. The Amazon founder envisions people living in outer-space cylinders -- and heavy industry living in them too.

DOWN THE PIPELINE The Southeast could be in for more pain at the pump after a pipeline explosion. The Colonial Pipeline caught fire, killing at least one worker and injuring five on Monday.

COP22 Fossil fuels will be heavily represented at this year’s U.N. climate talks. Fossil fuels' fingerprints are already all over COP22.

THE FIGHT STUFF Climate hawk vs. climate hawk: State carbon tax divides national environmental leaders A battle over a ballot initiative in Washington state has boiled over onto the national scene.

CATCH IT IF YOU CAN Leonardo DiCaprio’s new climate change film is now streaming. He roped some big-name pals into the movie, including President Obama, Pope Francis, and Elon Musk.

INITIATIVE 732 The most dramatic climate fight of the election is in Washington state A climate tax is opposed by some green groups that want a stronger focus on social justice.

A SINKING SHIP Shipping industry: Climate change? What’s the big rush! A U.N. maritime agency postponed a climate plan until 2023.

PARTY TRICK This Halloween, be a jerk — for the planet. Here's how you can make environmental catastrophe your +1 to the party this Halloween.

OY Bundys acquitted as authorities go after Standing Rock. Anti-government activists applauded the decision in Oregon.

TO-GHOUL LIST Take Halloween to the next level with these 5 statement costumes Why dress like an environmental catastrophe when you can act like one, too?

DAKOTA ACCESS Standing Rock youth bring the Dakota Access fight to Clinton HQ As conflict in North Dakota worsens without a strong stance from the candidate, the issue comes to her doorstep.

DAKOTA ACCESS The most accurate picture of the Dakota Access showdown is on social media. On Thursday, police and soldiers armed with militarized gear bore down on Dakota Access water protectors.

NO DEUS EXXON MACHINA ExxonMobil just got some bad news. The oil giant is being investigated for fraud over its climate change coverup, and a court just demanded that it turn over more documents.

A THEORY Are all these pro-climate celebrities being held hostage? If anyone's seen Ben Affleck lately, let us know.

JUSTICE FOR ALL? Exclusive: EPA’s top official commits to doing right by communities of color “The agency has a lot to prove,” Gina McCarthy told Grist. “And we are going to do that.”

SNAP DECISION Put down that polar bear pic and back away slowly. Seven science-based guidelines, to post photos that actually raise environmental awareness.

NO MORE MYSTERY ICE, GUYS West Antarctic glaciers lost more than 1,000 feet of ice in just 7 years. Behold: an ice sheet's collapse.

MASSIVE ATTACK Did your smart thermostat contribute to last week’s big cyberattack? Could our energy-saving gadgets go rogue and help take out the internet?

WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS? Here’s how Trump plans to scrap that Paris climate deal. We've been hearing this promise for a while. This is how he'd make it happen.

BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER Meet the tiny towns taking on climate change Take some inspiration from the tiny communities around the world who are taking climate change seriously.

HOT AIR We fact-checked Donald Trump’s latest comments on renewable energy. Turns out, they're not all true.

SEAL OF APPROVAL It’s a good day to be a seal, for once. A recent court ruling is an unprecedented victory for conservationists and Arctic animals everywhere.

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG MILESTONES Half a million solar panels were installed every day in 2015. And in China, two wind turbines were installed every hour.

A RISING TIDE SINKS ALL HOMES Miami’s sea-level troubles aren’t just hitting the rich. Miami Beach gets all the attention for its increased chronic flooding, but poorer, inland neighborhoods are being hit hard too.

NOPE TO THE POPE The pope’s call for climate action backfired in conservative America. Right-leaning Americans were less concerned about climate change after hearing the pope's message, according to a new survey.

HIGH & DRY Sorry, California, it’s looking like another droughty winter. La Niña brings no relief.

FEE ENTERPRISE The Clinton campaign considered proposing a carbon tax. According to WikiLeaks, Hillary Clinton's advisors discussed a greenhouse gas 'pollution fee.'

THE GREAT UNMENTIONABLE At least state debates pay attention to climate change. Oh, wait. Only 21.4 percent of debates in hotly contested state races included a question on climate change.

CUP OF OH, WAIT There’s hope for you yet, coffee fiends. The devil's beans may be less susceptible to climate change than we'd thought.

MOTHERS AND EARTH In Peru, this young activist is sparking a movement for climate justice Majandra Rodriguez Acha found creative ways to unite her nation’s young climate activists.

POWER STRUGGLE Solar up, coal down: U.S. shakes up energy supply By 2017, solar power capacity will nearly triple from 2014 levels.

A GRIST PSA We’ve got all the debate questions on humanity’s most urgent crisis in one scorching video. We at Grist rounded up the biggest climate moments of the debates.

BEAM ME UP Watch Trump supporters talk about their love for solar panels. A solar company preaches to the choir about the good news of solar energy.

EYE OF THE STORM Hurricane Matthew was a 1-in-1000-year disaster for North Carolina. That doesn't mean it will take another 1,000 years to see a storm like it.

PACK YOUR BAGS Which U.S. city should you hunker down in during the era of climate change? The New York Times compiled a list, and we at Grist did too.

ART WORKS How one artist put climate activism on paper Rachel Schragis pays homage to the People's Climate March in Post-its and ink.

DEBATE WATCH An alternative timeline of what the Clinton-Trump debates could have been. The debate that never was on climate change.

TAKE ME TO YOUR LITTER Rising seas could zap billion-dollar space equipment. The military is building a debris-detecting radar on a island that sits just a few feet above the ocean.

SHIT STORM Why the heck are there pig farms in the path of hurricanes? Hurricane Matthew is the third hurricane in two decades to wash animal feces all over North Carolina.

BOO! Oil companies should be scared of electric vehicles. So says a report by the Fitch credit rating agency, which warns that rapid innovation in batteries could trigger an 'investor death spiral.'

OH SNAP! Fossil fuel favorite Lamar Smith just lost a big ol’ endorsement. The San Antonio Express-News has refused to endorse Smith because of his 'bullying on the issue of climate change'

BETTER LAST DEBATE THAN NEVER Trump and Clinton have one more shot to address the biggest issue of our time. Will climate change get any attention at the last presidential debate on Wednesday night?

DEAD OR ALIVE? WHO KNOWS The stem cell burger is back, and this time it might even be affordable. The lab-grown patty used to cost $330,000. Now it could be as low as $10.

GRIDBLOCK Will an obstinate Senate help heat up the planet? Will the Kigali agreement to curb HFCs need to be ratified by the Senate? If so, the chamber is sure to block it.

DOUBLESPEAK Rubio’s new climate excuse: “I am 100 percent in favor of mitigation, if in fact sea levels are rising.” Welcome to Rubio's new excuse. At least he's not a scientist.

JILL WHO? GARY WHAT? John Oliver just skewered ALL the presidential candidates. The Last Week Tonight host points out the issues with Jill Stein's and Gary Johnson's proposals.

SOCIAL CIRCLE JERK You’re getting a skewed view of this election Liberals and conservatives absorb totally different streams of news, thanks in part to social media. Here’s how to broaden your perspective.

DAKOTA ACCESS A judge has thrown out Amy Goodman’s riot charges for reporting on Dakota Access. Tribe members and environmentalists are still getting arrested in droves.

GRIST EXCLUSIVE In wake of Wikileaks, Clinton’s campaign chair seeks to reassure climate activists In an exclusive interview with Grist, John Podesta tells us that Hillary Clinton is sincere in her commitment to fighting climate change.

BROKEN RECORD You know the drill: 11 of the last 12 months hit record high temps. September 2016 beat the last hottest September by a hair.

COOL DEAL Nearly every country in the world has agreed to cut back on a potent greenhouse gas. The deal cuts the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have roughly 1,000 times more heat-trapping capacity than carbon dioxide.

CO2 LITTLE, TOO LATE Relying on future tech to suck up carbon is rolling the dice with the planet Scientists are trying to develop negative-emissions technologies. Will they work?

BONE APPETIT Ken Bone: “If I was Energy King …” We talked to the red-sweatered star of the second presidential debate about climate change and his job as a coal plant operator.

NOT DEAD YET! Satirist writes obituary for the Great Barrier Reef. Internet takes him all too seriously. What a surprise.

HOT ART Sometimes you have to melt some ice to make a point. Art collective Futures North turned pre-industrial ice harvesting techniques and 21st-century computer modeling into a physical model of climate change.

CALL LETTER GREENS Sanders is going all-out against the Dakota Access Pipeline, while Clinton is dodging the issue. Sanders and four other senators sent a letter to Obama asking him to require a full environmental and cultural review of the pipeline.

DAKOTA ACCESS The Clinton campaign isn’t ready to take a stance on the Dakota Access pipeline. The Clinton campaign avoids taking a position other than support for the Obama administration's review process.

EYES ON THE PRIZE Top U.S. climate negotiator warns the world is watching our deplorable election The Paris climate deal will never be fully “Trump-proof,” Jonathan Pershing says. But rolling back progress wouldn’t be so easy.

JESUS FRACKING CHRIST How are you celebrating Oilfield Prayer Day? Oilfield Prayer Day seems a distasteful addition to a week filled with real holidays such as Indigenous People’s Day and Yom Kippur.

POWER MOVE Clinton would veto any attempt to overturn the Clean Power Plan, says her campaign chair. Clinton will go to the wall to defend Obama's signature environmental achievement, according to John Podesta.

GOOD-ISH NEWS Energy-related carbon emissions were way down in the first half of 2016 — but there’s a catch. Unfortunately, there's always a catch.

COOLING-OFF PERIOD Will this climate agreement hurt the world’s poorest? A plan to slash ultra-potent greenhouse gas could lead to suffering in the short term.

PIPE DOWN Climate activists shut down five tar-sands oil pipelines. And 10 of them got arrested.

DISCOURSE OF NATURE As ice melts and seas rise, can endangered languages survive? From Greenland to the Marshall Islands, climate change threatens unique cultures.

MIAMI HEAT We finally heard what Clinton sounds like when she digs in on climate. Al Gore and Hillary Clinton appeared side-by-side in a Miami campaign stop that framed the climate-change challenge in an unusually optimistic light.

YOU CALL THIS JUSTICE? This coal baron is running for governor of West Virginia — and he owes millions in mine safety penalties. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice also isn't convinced that climate change is happening.

SPARKING SPOT Wildfires aren’t just for the West anymore As cities expand, so do chances of devastating wildfires.

DAKOTA ACCESS A man drove a truck through a crowd of protesters as tensions over the Dakota Access Pipeline escalate. The assault in Reno comes as the Standing Rock activists dig in their heels.

SPOILER ALERT West Coast oysters are getting drilled by warmer oceans. Climate change is boosting oyster predators.

THERE WILL BE FLOOD Hurricane Matthew may be over, but the waters haven’t receded yet in parts of North Carolina. About 2,000 rescues have been made in hurricane-hit areas of the state, and more than a thousand people still need rescuing.

DEEPWATER HORIZON 6 years after Deepwater Horizon oil spill, thousands of people are still sick The disaster took a heavy toll on public health in the Gulf. loading more stories… A Beacon in the Smog® © 1999-2016 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Grist is powered by WordPress.com VIP. Support independent nonprofit journalism. GIVE TO GRIST ×

Burning questions

In wildfire-riddled Tennessee, climate change is a hot topic

Residents blame drought, and some point to climate.

dakota access

Obama can’t really do much about Standing Rock

Activists are calling on the president to intervene, but he has little power to stop the pipeline.

Dakota Access

The backstory on Standing Rock, the federal government, and tribal sovereignty

A primer on the body of law that has everything to do with the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Dakota Access

Trump supports finishing Dakota Access.

Standing Rock also saw a small victory in the form of a letter from Wells Fargo to tribal elders.

Shine on

5 lessons activists can learn from Florida’s successful ballot fight to defend solar

Floridians voted Republican on Nov. 8, and at the same time they rejected an anti-solar ballot amendment.

uphill battle

Bill McKibben: Trump presidency “demands fierce resistance”

Here are some tips for persevering through the next four years.

Opinion

Want to convince Trump to care about climate? Scaremongering about refugees won’t help.

Military leaders are warning about climate change causing an 'unimaginable' refugee crisis. But we should help migrants, not demonize them.

Trump's America

Our government is now getting its science news from science-denying Breitbart.

The dystopian nightmare seems to be descending sooner than we thought.

land rights and wrongs

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by a whopping 29 percent this year — but there’s a way to slow it.

According to satellite imagery, loggers depleted 3,000 square miles of the Amazon from August 2015 to July 2016. That may be partially attributable to funding cuts that have hamstrung the government agency responsible for monitoring illegal logging. In 2004, Brazil created …

Burning questions

In wildfire-riddled Tennessee, climate change is a hot topic

Residents blame drought, and some point to climate.

dakota access

Obama can’t really do much about Standing Rock

Activists are calling on the president to intervene, but he has little power to stop the pipeline.

Dakota Access

The backstory on Standing Rock, the federal government, and tribal sovereignty

A primer on the body of law that has everything to do with the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Dakota Access

Trump supports finishing Dakota Access.

Standing Rock also saw a small victory in the form of a letter from Wells Fargo to tribal elders.

Shine on

5 lessons activists can learn from Florida’s successful ballot fight to defend solar

Floridians voted Republican on Nov. 8, and at the same time they rejected an anti-solar ballot amendment.

uphill battle

Bill McKibben: Trump presidency “demands fierce resistance”

Here are some tips for persevering through the next four years.

Opinion

Want to convince Trump to care about climate? Scaremongering about refugees won’t help.

Military leaders are warning about climate change causing an 'unimaginable' refugee crisis. But we should help migrants, not demonize them.

Trump's America

Our government is now getting its science news from science-denying Breitbart.

The dystopian nightmare seems to be descending sooner than we thought.

land rights and wrongs

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon increased by a whopping 29 percent this year — but there’s a way to slow it.

According to satellite imagery, loggers depleted 3,000 square miles of the Amazon from August 2015 to July 2016. That may be partially attributable to funding cuts that have hamstrung the government agency responsible for monitoring illegal logging. In 2004, Brazil created …