Latest Articles

Playing De-fence

Prominent House Republican Calls for Completion of Border Fence Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, called on the Bush administration today to complete a major fence project along the westernmost portion of the U.S.-Mexico border despite concerns that such a project could harm habitat for threatened and endangered birds. The […]

Immigration controversy engulfs Sierra Club board election

If the Democratic primaries have proven a little prim and polite for your taste, there’s another upcoming election that may pique your interest. This one is loaded with bitter controversy, nasty accusations, and emotional appeals to democracy and fairness. Its major players have even taken their grievances to court — all before the nearly three-quarters […]

Does it make sense for environmentalists to want to limit immigration?

The Sierra Club, most venerable of environmental organizations, is awash in charges, countercharges, suits, countersuits, invective, counter-invective, and double counter-invective bounces-off-me-and-sticks-to-you. At issue, depending on whom you talk to, is whether single-issue racists will take over the organization’s board or whether club democracy will be squelched by blatant interference from the group’s old guard. What’s […]

Dispatches from a macaw research trip

Sue Kaufman, a 20-year veteran of the business world, volunteers with several environmental organizations. She is soon to join Grist‘s board of directors. Here she chronicles her volunteer activities on a recent expedition with Earthwatch Institute to the Peruvian Amazon.. Monday, 1 Mar 2004 LIMA, Peru Greetings from Lima, Peru, where I am spending the […]

Huge Tracts of Land

Bush Administration Accelerates Oil and Gas Leasing in Rockies The Bush administration, as part of its broader effort to accelerate oil and gas development on the Rocky Mountain front, is moving ahead with plans to lease large tracts of environmentally sensitive land in Utah and southwestern Wyoming. This has prompted protests from varied quarters, including […]

Missouri Loves Company

New Missouri River Management Plan Sparks Protest A massive new plan to manage the Missouri River, released by the Army Corps of Engineers on Friday, managed to please exactly nobody, in keeping with the tenor of 15 years of debate over the future of the “Big Muddy.” Conservation groups immediately protested and filed lawsuits, saying […]

Breaking Wind

U.K. Military Accused of Thwarting Wind-Power Development The U.K. Ministry of Defense is blocking efforts to expand wind energy in the country, said a group of top scientists today. The MoD objected to 48 percent of applications to build land-based wind turbine farms in 2003 because it doesn’t want turbines within 46 miles of air […]

A veteran enviro leader answers questions

What organization are you affiliated with? What does it do? I’m the dean at the Yale University School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. The school is working to become “a truly global school of the environment.” We have around 235 students in our professional master’s degree programs in environmental management, forestry, and environmental science. Our […]

Burn Me Up, Scotty

Super-Hot Trash Zapper May Yield Hydrogen This just in: The future is now. “Plasma torch technology” is gaining acceptance among corporations and governments, and may soon show up at a waste facility near you. Here’s how it works: Trash — anything from municipal garbage to toxic waste to PCBs — is zapped (at least we […]

I’ve Seen Fire and I’ve Seen Rain

Amazonian Fires May Screw Up Entire South American Climate Massive fires in Amazonian forests, set by impoverished local residents trying to create revenue-generating pastures and cropland, have the potential to disrupt the climate and generate fierce storms across South America, says research published in today’s issue of the journal Science. The fires send particles into […]