Articles by Grist staff

Highway Just Met a Girl Named Maria

Provision in highway bill would require gas-mileage reality check The U.S. EPA would have to use more realistic conditions when testing new vehicle models for gas-mileage figures under an amendment offered by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), backed by green and consumer groups, and successfully attached to the Senate highway bill. Currently, the agency’s methods include […]

A Bank Slate

Big banks play growing role in curbing eco-destruction Increasingly, green groups are both protesting against and partnering with major financial institutions that have the power to back — or not — environmentally destructive projects. “The private financial sector more than any other has the ability to begin the ecological U-turn modern society so desperately needs,” […]

You’re Turning Into a Real Ditch

Panama Canal threatened by denuded forest watershed Here’s how the Panama Canal works: Torrential downpours batter the country’s forests during rainy season; the water is absorbed into the watershed and feeds steadily into massive, human-made Gatun Lake; the lake then feeds water into the canal. The shipping route thus provided is responsible for some 40 […]

Don’t Get Fresh With Me

Regional FWS director warns employees against using new science The southwestern regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t like his science fresh. He recently issued a memo instructing his staff to disregard any genetic science about an endangered species conducted after the species was listed under the Endangered Species Act (in some […]