Articles by Grist staff

David Benton, head of the Marine Conservation Alliance, answers questions

David Benton. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I’m executive director of the Marine Conservation Alliance, based in Juneau, Alaska. What does your organization do? MCA is a nonprofit organization established by the Alaska seafood industry that promotes sustainable fishing. America has an increasing appetite for healthy seafood, but we must be sure that […]

A Ploy Named Sue

With feds asleep at the wheel, states sue to protect air and water Frustrated by federal inaction, states and localities are increasingly suing companies and even each other in attempts to curb air and water pollution. Oklahoma, for instance, has filed suit against eight companies that operate chicken farms in neighboring Arkansas, charging that farm […]

Wrong as Rain

Acid rain and dirty air bedevil China and Hong Kong One-third of China’s landmass was hit with acid rain last year, according to a government report, posing a grave threat to soil health and food safety. Fast-growing China is the world leader in acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide emissions, which rose 27 percent in the country from […]

April Showers Bring April Flowers

Spring is springing earlier in Europe, study finds Across Europe, spring is arriving an average of six to eight days earlier than it did 30 years ago, according to new research published in the journal Global Change Biology. Scientists studied 125,000 sets of observations of 542 plant and 19 animal species in 21 European countries, […]