Articles by Grist staff

A Touch of Class

New York schools will clean green Kids in New York will breathe easier this fall, thanks to a new law requiring schools in the state to purchase environmentally friendly cleaning supplies. “It’s well documented that when you clean up the quality of the air we breathe indoors, students’ attendance rates go up, attention spans in […]

How Ultra-Low Can You Go?

California makes the jump to ultra-low sulfur diesel Starting today, on-road and off-road diesel vehicles in California will fill up with ultra-low sulfur fuel. California is leading the pack on this issue (natch); the rest of the U.S. will require on-road diesel vehicles to go ultra-low starting Oct. 15, but won’t require off-road vehicles to […]

Not Management Material

BLM slacks on environmental monitoring in Wyoming For the past six years, the Bureau of Land Management has been slacking on its commitment to assess and limit the impact of natural-gas drilling on wilderness in western Wyoming, says, um, the Bureau of Land Management. A leaked internal assessment for the BLM’s Pinedale, Wyo., field office […]

Summit aims to ask experts your questions about the environment, other issues

Next week, 112 great minds will convene at the world's first international thought summit. The monumental undertaking [PDF] by nonprofit dropping knowledge is "dedicated to moving people from apathy to activity through the simple act of asking questions." The summit, Table of Free Voices, will take place in Berlin's historic Bebelplatz square Sept. 9 and will bring together experts from a wide range of fields to answer questions submitted in video form by the public.

Questions already culled by dropping knowledge range from the practical, "How can we discuss global problems when we do not know how to solve local ones?," to the environmental, "Will children grow up in an environmental wasteland?," to the emotional, "Are you scared?"

The questions chosen for the experts span eight global themes, including "The Human Footprint" -- which focuses on energy, ecology, and sustainable ways of life. Though it could be argued that all eight themes involve issues that affect the environment in some way.