Mobile Apptitude

For me, riding the bus is a perfect time to catch up on my “priorty B” news. So on my BlackBerry, I’ve been checking out two of CREDO’s 2009 environmental donation recipients websites, Grist and Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS):

http://www.grist.org/

http://www.ucsusa.org/

Grist looks great on my BlackBerry default web browser and UCS isn’t bad. (But they may not be compatible with your browser if you have a non-smartphone, unless you are using Opera Mini,)

While they cover a lot of the same topics—from climate and energy to food and agriculture–they definitely have different personalities. Right off the bat, Grist sets the tone with their “A beacon in the smog” tagline.

And while Grist is focused more on personal living stuff and opinion, UCS’s site gives you their measured, highly credible slant on public/policy kinds of news. A few examples:

Grist serves it up with a little ‘tude.

• Debunking the meat/climate change myth—The farmer-author says eating grass-raised cows isn’t the problem. Industrial animal practices— from corn, fertilizer/ feedlot/ transportation, etc.—are the real culprits.
  
• Songs about climate change that don’t suck–Ranks eco songs from “most to least cringeworthy.” We definitely need a better enviro soundtrack, but hey, I still love Melissa Etheridge’s “I need to wake up.”

On the other hand, UCS gets down to business.

• Factcheck: Contrarians Promote Study That Masks Warming Trend–examines in-depth why a new study released July 23 is full of hot air. Great baseball analogy makes this article very accessible.

So now it’s your turn. What’s your favorite eco news source that you check out on your cell phone?