Articles by Grist staff

You Can’t Always Nyet What You Want

Russia plans enormous sports complex near pristine national park Hoping to strengthen its bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the Russian government has approved an $11.3 billion project to turn areas of Sochi National Park into a ginormous winter-sports complex. The park is home to 300 endemic plant species and a variety of endangered flora […]

Wigley Room

Spewing sulfur dioxide into atmosphere could slow warming, says research On earth, sulfur dioxide contributes to acid rain and harms human hearts and lungs — but if injected into the stratosphere, says new research in Science, it could shade the sun’s rays and keep global warming at bay. Hey, if volcanoes can spew it, why […]

Search and You Shall Find

New Google philanthropy aims to build super-efficient hybrid car If you’re tired of waiting for bold innovation from big automakers, help is on the way from, of all places, iconic search firm Google. The company’s founders have established a controversial for-profit philanthropy, Google.org, which will focus on poverty, disease, and global warming. One of its […]

The Magnificent 87

California’s Prop. 87, which would tax oil to fund renewables, spurs big spending Proposition 87, a California ballot measure that would tax oil production and use the proceeds for research into alternative energy, is spurring some big spending. Oil companies have raised nearly all of the more than $35 million in the “No on 87” […]