Articles by Grist staff

Justice of the Greenpeace

Federal Case Against Greenpeace Thrown Out of Court The U.S. government’s unusual criminal suit against Greenpeace USA was rather unceremoniously booted from federal court yesterday by U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan. In a rare “directed verdict,” the judge found the group not guilty midway through the trial, after the prosecution had presented its case but […]

Survival of the Weakest

Humans Affecting Evolution of Other Species Lay scientists tend to think of evolution as a glacially slow process, with changes measured in hundreds of thousands of years, not decades. However, growing collaboration between ecologists and evolutionary biologists is highlighting a phenomenon called “contemporary evolution” — and it ain’t pretty. Turns out, by culling the largest, […]

The Lawn and Short of It

Organic Lawn Care Taking Off With the U.S. adding some 2 million acres of residential property a year, lawns are becoming a significant environmental issue. In addition to sucking up water — the average lawn drinks about 10,000 gallons of water over and above rainfall, says the U.S. EPA — lawns are frequently doused with […]

Factory farms get off easy on air pollution

What do the National Chicken Council, the National Turkey Federation, United Egg Producers, and Tyson Foods have in common? Crying fowl. Photo: USDA. Well, first there’s the obvious fowl connection. Then there’s the foul connection: Their facilities, known as “concentrated animal feeding operations” (CAFOs), have growing air-pollution problems thanks to the mountains of gas-emitting excrement […]