Latest Articles

Life in the Fast Lane

After more than a week of fasting to protest the giant Sardar Sarovar hydroelectric dam being built by the Indian government, environmental activist Medha Patkar has been told by a doctor that she is weak and should go to the hospital. Patkar and six others began their hunger strikes on 17 Sep., demanding that the […]

Dry, the Beloved Country

Global warming could cause big changes in South Africa in the next 50 years, including the loss of many plant species, less rainfall, and an increase in wildfires, according to a report released by the South African branch of the World Wildlife Fund. One of the report’s authors, William Bond of the University of Cape […]

Zinc About What You're Trying to Do to Me

A proposed zinc and copper mine in northern Wisconsin may have run into trouble last Friday when the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Sokaogon Chippewa have the right to regulate water quality on their reservation downstream from the mine site. The court rejected arguments by Wisconsin that it alone had the […]

Don't Come on In, the Water's Warm

A beachside nuclear reactor in Brazil leaked thousands of gallons of slightly radioactive water in May, but the public didn’t learn about the problem until the Brazilian magazine Epoca broke the news earlier this week. Most of the water leaking from the Angra reactor was contained by an emergency tank, and the plant was shut […]

Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Alberta

Alberta emits more greenhouse gases than any other province in Canada and could single-handedly prevent the country from complying with the Kyoto treaty on climate change, according to a study released yesterday by the Pembina Institute, an environmental think tank. The study predicts that Alberta’s emissions of greenhouse gases will rise about 65 percent from […]

Lightweight Reading

Lightweight, fuel-efficient cars do just fine in Rocky Mountain winters, say some Grist readers, disagreeing with a recent letter to the editor that backed SUVs as the practical mode of transportation during snow season. Others agree that SUVs are a big help, and they applaud a push by some automakers to manufacture gas-electric hybrid SUVs. […]

First Contami-Nations

Navajo activists plan to rally today and tomorrow against an energy bill before the U.S. Senate that would give $30 million to fund uranium mining on Navajo Nation lands in New Mexico. They say the mining would contaminate the drinking water of more than 15,000 people. Lori Goodman, spokesperson for Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our […]

Lots Toulouse

An explosion at one of France’s largest petrochemical plants last Friday has left 29 people dead, 10 missing, and 2,500 injured. The blast from the AZF plant in Toulouse sent acid clouds into the air and caused problems as far as three miles away. Philippe Douste-Blazy, the mayor of Toulouse, said some 20,000 homes, apartments, […]

Pygmy-aliens

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton on Friday upheld the listing of the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, rejecting arguments by developers that the owl didn’t merit protections because large populations of the species exist in Mexico. She said the act focuses on the status of species in the U.S., […]

A Clean Sweep

Coastal cities in Southern California are latching on to a new, relatively cheap way to combat pollution running off their streets into the ocean — the little-heralded street sweeper. Street sweepers of 20 years ago did little more than collect litter and big dirt particles. Sweepers are now equipped to vacuum up pesticides, fertilizers, animal […]