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This Is Your Brain on SUVs

Remember the federally funded ad campaign that discouraged drug use by claiming that drug money benefited terrorists? Syndicated newspaper columnist Arianna Huffington does, apparently, and she’s taken a page of the U.S. government’s book by launching ads of her own that accuse owners of gas-guzzling SUVs of abetting terrorists. Huffington teamed up with some like-minded […]

In Deep Du Du

The U.S. Navy regularly tests one of its weapons by firing radioactive ammunition into prime fishing waters off the coast of Washington state, a practice that fishers, scientists, and activists say could be harmful to human and environmental health. The weapon, known as the Phalanx or the Close In Weapons System, fires up to 4,500 […]

Bjorn Loser

In 2001, Danish author Bjorn Lomborg rocketed into the spotlight with the publication of The Skeptical Environmentalist, which claimed to debunk virtually all environmental concerns, from global warming to species extinction, and sought to assure the public that there was nothing much to worry about, ecologically speaking. Now, a division of the Danish Research Agency […]

Jeff Reifman, Antarctic traveler

Jeff Reifman, a recent traveler to Antarctica, is a technologist in Seattle. Click here to view Jeff’s Antarctica photo album. Monday, 6 Jan 2003 SEATTLE, Wash. Somehow I knew the Antarctic would be unique and amazing — and it was, despite the 15,000 pounds of C02 emissions created by my journey there and back. Paradise Harbor on […]

Barking Up the Wrong Tree?

Forest management has long been one of the most contentious issues in the Western United States, often placing enviros, locals, and government land managers at loggerheads (so to speak). But in some small pockets around the West, people are banding together to balance conflicting interests in local forests, a trend policy makers call community-based forest […]

Space Invaders

And other words from readers

  Re: Point. Click. Ignore. Dear Editor: I was appalled that the U.S. Department of Interior is ignoring email appeals now. However, email filtering can be defeated: If the criteria for tossing an email were that it looks just like 80,000 other emails with the exception of the signature, then one can write software to […]

Just Goshute Me

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said yesterday that it was not responsible for evaluating the potential environmental impacts of a terrorist attack on a proposed nuclear-waste storage facility in western Utah. Opponents of the $3.1 billion facility, which would be located about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City on sovereign lands belonging to Skull […]

‘Tis Better to Give

From the Enron scandal to environmental rollbacks, it seems like the headlines these days are dominated by greed, recklessness, self-interest, and shortsightedness. What’s a concerned citizen to do? How about giving to Grist this holiday season? In exchange for your generosity and altruism, you’ll help ensure that we keep publishing top-notch environmental news until the […]

10,000? Maniacs!

After two decades of struggle, Pennsylvania has finally secured legislation requiring the state to design and implement a water-conservation strategy. The Water Resources Planning Act, signed into law this week by outgoing Gov. Mark Schweiker (R), is widely seen as a first step in determining the amount of water available in Pennsylvania, as well as […]