Articles by Grist staff

Good news on ivory bills, bad news on border fence, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Anyone Got an Extra PFD? Bluster’s Last Stand The Amazing Technicolor Dream Cote Bird Mentality Tender Loving Caribou Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Branson With the Stars Majora League The Revolution Will Be Criticized A Bern Talking-To Engine Block

Perilous state of Yellowstone’s grizzlies highlights need for solid science in policy-makin

The perilous state of Yellowstone's grizzly-bear population highlights the need for solid science in policy-making, argues Doug Honnold in this guest essay. Honnold, managing attorney of the Earthjustice Northern Rockies office, has been litigating public-interest environmental cases for more than 20 years. Some of his successful cases have led federal courts to reinstate the Clinton roadless rule, overturn the Farm Bureau's efforts to have Yellowstone wolves killed, and reject the government's grizzly bear recovery plan because of its lack of habitat standards.

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Our ability to protect and preserve wild places like Yellowstone -- indeed, our ability to protect our civilization -- turns in large part on our ability to understand the amazingly complex biological and scientific dynamics at play. We can't fight global warming or beat back avian flu or protect our families from air pollution unless we understand the science behind these issues and put it to use.

But as we've seen again and again through the annals of history, powerful political forces use corrupted science to support desired political results.

Witness the Bush administration's proposal to remove the Yellowstone grizzly bear population from the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act. By the basic standards of fundamental ecology, that should be a non-starter because of the relatively small population size and the substantial threats the bear faces.

Better Off Fed

Federal employees can donate to Grist through Combined Federal Campaign Hark, employees of the U.S. federal government! We’ve got a special offer for you and you only: the opportunity to donate to your favorite nonprofit eco-publication (that’s us) through the Combined Federal Campaign. Grist is recipient No. 2338, and we promise to use your tax-deductible […]

Does Silicone Count?

California will measure chemical levels in people’s bodies under new law The first state to measure how residents absorb chemicals from everyday products will be, of course, Arkansas. Ha ha — you wish, Arkansans. No, it’ll be California. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed a “biomonitoring” bill Friday that calls on state health officers to collect […]