Articles by Grist staff

Knock on Wood

Researchers suggest wood as source for ethanol production Wood could one day join corn as a major source of ethanol, with the production process feeding off a by-product of paper mills. Researchers from the State University of New York estimate that bio-refineries built in already existing paper mills could produce some 2.4 billion gallons of […]

Doom and Bloom

Most Mother’s Day flowers are far from green Oodles of Americans will buy flowers for their moms for Mother’s Day (that’s this Sunday, you slackers), but not many will consider the environmental impacts. Conventionally grown flowers “are such a high-value crop that it takes a huge amount of pesticides to make them perfect,” said Pesticide […]

Oil Really Is a Lubricant

Diverse groups, unlikely allies join fight for energy independence Military officials, environmental activists, and others from across the political spectrum are speaking up about the need for radical change in American energy policy. Over the last year, a number of labor groups and think tanks have joined the chorus, releasing detailed plans for reducing oil […]

Cornerstone environmental law, NEPA, under fire in energy bill

When the energy bill sailed through the House of Representatives late last month, the media reported that it was the same old grotesquely corpulent package that the GOP leadership had previously tried — and failed — to pass through Congress four times in the last four years. This is true. But what flew under the […]