Articles by Grist staff

What “Hard Work” Really Looks Like

Iraqi environment minister faces armed attack, underfunding Mishkat Al Moumin, head of Iraq’s Ministry of Environment since June, has an unenviable job. In August, an attack on her convoy left four of her bodyguards dead. Security concerns lead her to avoid having her picture taken or discussing her family. In a land ravaged by wars […]

Bush admin tries to take the whistle away from potential blowers at the EPA

Last week, when a House of Representatives committee approved new whistle-blower protection legislation, the Bush administration flew into a tizzy, saying such protections would open the door to gratuitous complaints against its officials and create needless headaches. But the House committee held strong, citing more than a dozen plights like that of Teresa Chambers as […]

Indelicacies

Chinese appetite for exotic foods driving trade in endangered species Many Chinese believe that wild game improves health. Whether or not that’s true, the country’s enormous market for rare and exotic “delicacies” is not improving the health of endangered species. “Just in the last two years, 12 to 13 species have had to be CITES-listed […]

Poo-Poo Power

Wastewater has lots of energy potential The wastewater that courses down drains and into municipal water-treatment plants around the world contains a substantial amount of organic material, or “biosolids,” or, well, “poop” and such. When this organic matter breaks down, it generates “biogas,” a methane-rich fuel that some plants use to heat the water and […]