Articles by Grist staff

Sand Trap

Cancers, other diseases rising near Alberta oil sands Illnesses including leukemia and lymphomas are cropping up at greater than expected rates in a First Nations community near oil sands in Canada’s Alberta province. Elders at Fort Chipewyan say incidence of disease started rising when the oil industry started extracting and processing hundreds of thousands of […]

Lease and Desist

House reps blow taxpayer dough on pricey gas-guzzlers It’s almost April; do you know where your taxes are? Last year, at least $1.05 million in public money went to leasing SUVs, luxury cars, and other vehicles for members of Congress — just as the Founding Fathers intended. Members of the House are legally allowed to […]

Tomasita González, environmental-justice organizer, answers readers’ questions

Tomasita González is pushing to bring clean, running water and electricity to low-income communities of color in the Albuquerque area -- including her own. In answering reader questions, González -- an organizer with the SouthWest Organizing Project and this week's InterActivist -- chats about her favorite bilingual kids' book, New Mexico's status as a "nuclear colony," the rights of a toothpaste tube, and more.

We Love a Plan in Uniform

U.S. military aims to trim energy use After years of pooh-poohing fuel efficiency, the U.S. military has been ordered by the Department of Defense to cut energy use at all military bases and facilities by 2 percent per year — to which they replied, “Yes, sir! Right away, sir!” The Pentagon’s demand comes on the […]