Articles by Grist staff

Unjust Breathe

Blacks more likely than whites to be breathing polluted air Sadly, few will be shocked to hear that black Americans are more likely than whites to be breathing the nation’s most unhealthy air. An Associated Press analysis of year-2000 data from two federal sources — the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory and the Census Bureau’s population […]

Not Shafted Yet

Controversial mining-law revisions dropped from budget bill You might think we could take it for granted that millions of acres of national parks, forests, and other federal lands won’t be sold off to developers, but these days, it’s worthy of celebration: Late yesterday, struggling to pass a big budget bill before the holiday break, Republicans […]

Great Expectations

Big Great Lakes cleanup plan gets an OK, but no federal funds U.S. EPA administrator Stephen Johnson and a bipartisan coalition of Midwestern lawmakers and officials approved a 15-year strategy to restore the Great Lakes on Monday. But the Bush administration says it won’t fund the plan, which may cost up to $20 billion. The […]

Off Season

Climate change is messing with the seasons in a Rocky Mountain forest Since 1968, researchers have gathered air samples from near the summit of Colorado’s Niwot Ridge in the Rocky Mountains, and tracked carbon dioxide levels in the conifer forest below. They’ve amassed the world’s third-longest record of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and that record provides […]