Articles by Grist staff

The God of Small Savings

Ex-millionaire surrounded by trees, little else Former real-estate mogul Xing Yiqian is well-known on the Chinese island of Hainan for his dedicated conservation of the area’s dense rainforest. Called the “tree god” by locals, Xing spent his fortune — once valued at $24 million — paying individual landowners not to cut down their trees, financing […]

Shocked, Shocked to Find Politicization in This Establishment

EPA inspector general finds proposed mercury rule biased for industry Brace yourself — your entire worldview is about to be shaken. Turns out, in coming up with its new rules on power-plant mercury emissions, the U.S. EPA violated agency protocol and ignored scientific evidence in order to stay in line with a predetermined goal that […]

I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

In SOTU speech, Bush mentions eco-responsible energy, dodges climate In his State of the Union speech last night — in between 27 utterances each of the words “freedom” and “terror” or their variants — President Bush squeezed in a brief nod to green issues. He said that the country needs “environmentally responsible” energy sources, just […]

Run Away, Train

D.C. approves stricter regs on transporting toxic chemicals Worried about a possible catastrophic release of toxic chemicals that one study says could kill up to 100,000 people, Washington, D.C.’s 13-member city council has approved a measure limiting the transport of toxic chemicals within a 2.2-mile radius of the Capitol building. Shipments of explosives, flammable gases, […]