Articles by Grist staff

They’ve Been Working on the Railroad

Recycled plastic railroad ties making inroads There are nearly a billion wooden railroad ties holding together the railroads and subways of the U.S. That’s a lot of wood, and thus a lot of trees. It’s also a lot of creosote, a preservative chemical used on wood and deemed by the U.S. EPA “probably a human […]

We Take Our Coffee Green

Central American coffee industry rebounds by going green A global surplus of coffee five years ago sent the Central American coffee industry into a tailspin, but it is gradually recovering by focusing on high-quality beans — which in many cases means organically grown. In that rarest of things, a genuine win-win situation, the industry is […]

The Hansen Bothers

More climate scientists come out against Bush Andrew Revkin of The New York Times has written what may be the definitive account of the battle over science politicization in and around the Bush administration. The broad outlines are familiar — the science community is more politically mobilized than it has been in decades, outraged at […]

Green Dawn

Activists work to form Green Party in Russia A group of environmental activists and scientists is seeking to create a Green political party in Russia, expressing high hopes despite considerable hurdles. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia’s environmental situation has gone from bad to worse. Environmental standards are among the world’s lowest, the […]