Articles by Grist staff

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Iran using oil, natural gas resources to find fast friends Much in the way the kid with the backyard swimming pool and the trampoline always manages to rustle up friends, Iran is turning to its oil and gas reserves to leverage alliances with influential Eastern nations — and rather urgently, as it faces the threat […]

Rock the Bloat

Some conservatives getting uncomfortable with energy-bill pork A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, being a conservative meant favoring free markets and smaller, less intrusive federal government. A shrinking number of conservatives still cling to the old ways, and they are disturbed by the energy bill making its way through the House. […]

Ubiquity Is the Mother of Reinvention

Labeling and certification move beyond organic in U.S. With the U.S. organics industry going mainstream, a coterie of anti-The-Man farmers are getting out, eschewing federally regulated “organic” certification and creating terms and systems of their own to address eco-friendly agricultural practices not covered by the federal regs. The Food Alliance has created a certification process […]

A Matter of Great Export

Arctic Refuge oil could be sent overseas A portentous U.S. commitment, sold with slogans about freedom and national security, that turns out to be all about the oil industry. No, not that one. We’re talking about drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling proponents cite the fact that the U.S. imports most of the […]