Latest Articles

Grist chats with Andre Heinz, environmental activist and stepson of John Kerry

Some may cry nepotism when they see Andre Heinz, the middle son of Teresa Heinz Kerry, take to the podium as one of the leading spokespeople on the environment for John Kerry’s presidential campaign, but his ascent is hardly without merit. True, he has deliberately steered clear of a career inside the Beltway, so in […]

Luisa Colasimone, wind power advocate, answers questions

Luisa Colasimone. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I’m communications director for the European Wind Energy Association. What does your organization do? What, in a perfect world, would constitute “mission accomplished”? EWEA is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting wind power in Europe and worldwide. Our members include 200 companies, organizations, and […]

Omission Accomplished

Environment Invisible at GOP Convention Attendees at the Republican National Convention, which wrapped up last night, would have been hard-pressed to discern the party’s positions on environmental issues. Other than a video touting the Bush administration’s efforts to avert wildfires in national forests (by, um, logging), green themes were markedly absent from the gathering. “I […]

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

The Wilderness Act Turns 40 Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed by Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Some 9 million acres were designated wilderness upon passage; 106 million acres are protected under the act today. Jimmy Carter signed the most land into wilderness, with 66.3 million […]

Pebbles: Bam, Bam!

China Gears Up to Build New, Smaller Nuke Plants China’s economy is expanding faster than Bruce Banner with road rage, straining against the limits of its current capacity for creating or importing energy — and pumping out some of the world’s worst air pollution. The plan? Go nuclear. This year China announced its intention to […]

If We Weren’t Already Fireproof, This Would Burn Us Up

Flame Retardants Found in Many Grocery-Store Foods A new study of grocery items like fish, meat, and dairy products revealed that virtually all of them contain detectable levels of PBDEs, human-made chemical fire retardants used in carpeting, electronics, and furniture that may or may not cause cancer. (We’ll get to the “may or may not” […]

Too Many Cooks Oil the Broth

ChevronTexaco Heavily Influenced California Restructuring California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R) recently announced plan to comprehensively reorganize state government brought grumbles from some enviros, who were piqued by the proposed consolidation of various boards and commissions from which many of the state’s groundbreaking environmental initiatives have emerged. This latest news isn’t going to mollify them. The […]

24 Hour Party People

Energy Industry Funnels Millions into Unregulated Convention Parties The energy industry is treating Republicans to a gay old time in New York City this week, hosting a plethora of parties for favored politicians and others attending the GOP convention: a ball, a concert, a trap shoot, a honky-tonk salute, even a soiree with scantily clad […]

The Windshield Beneath My Wings

Splatometers Reveal Possible Insect Decline in U.K. Many bird populations in the U.K. have declined precipitously in recent years — for instance, house sparrows have dropped by 65 percent since 1973 — and some scientists suspect that a cause is a possible corresponding decline in the insect populations upon which the birds depend. To test […]

Bush admin move may keep Kerry and other candidates from stumping on federal property

John Kerry at the Grand Canyon. Photo: Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. from Sharon Farmer. The Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, NASA headquarters, and the Washington Monument are among the many federal properties that may be off-limits to presidential and congressional candidates for campaign photo ops this election season, thanks to a guidance recently released by the […]