Articles by Grist staff

Big Brother Knows Best

House bill would keep states from setting tough toxics rules House Republicans are pushing legislation that would keep states from setting standards for pesticides and health-threatening industrial chemicals that are more stringent than federal regulations. If passed, the bill could nullify a California ban on brominated fire retardants, for example, and restrictions in San Francisco […]

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness — Well, One Out of Three Ain’t Bad

The happiest nations are not the high-consuming ones, survey says A new Happy Planet Index supports the cliché that money can’t buy happiness. The New Economics Foundation, a British think tank, looked at 178 countries’ consumption levels, life expectancy, and happiness, and concluded that people can live long, happy lives without sucking up large quantities […]

Beleaguered of Nations

Britain pledges to involve poor countries in fighting climate change Climate change ain’t gonna be pretty for any of us, but it will have an especially devastating impact on Africa: more extreme weather patterns will cause food insecurity, income loss, higher death rates, and more diseases. Calling the impacts of climate change on poor nations […]

We Hope the Russians Love Their Tube Worms Too

Russians plan to drill into untouched Antarctic lake The world’s seventh-largest freshwater lake is locked under a giant Antarctic ice sheet and has never been exposed to human contact — but Russian scientists have drilled within 425 feet of it, and, despite pleas from scientists and environmentalists, intend to drill in all the way over […]