Articles by Grist staff

Talking Trash

New Biomass Process Holds Great Promise Biomass — the process of converting carbon-based waste into fuel — is slowly but surely becoming a viable enterprise. At the forefront are companies like Changing World Technologies Inc.; its first commercial plant, recently built in Carthage, Mo., sees thousands of tons of turkey parts from a nearby Butterball […]

Watershed Down

California Law Threatens Watershed Restoration Projects An obscure California law may threaten watershed restoration efforts across the state. At issue are the use of volunteers — a common practice by watershed-restoration groups perpetually strapped for cash — and a 2001 law mandating that all workers on public-works projects be paid the prevailing market wage for […]

No Chemical Left Behind

U.S. State Department Helping Chemical Industry Fight E.U. Regulation Last year, the European Union proposed a plan that would have forced all manufacturers to test industrial chemicals and report on their public-health effects before selling them in Europe. The Bush administration immediately began a lobbying campaign to forestall the move, including several messages sent directly […]

The EPA has been misoverestimating the fuel economy of cars sold in the U.S., says enviro group

A whole lot of exaggerating going on. If you think the fuel economy of U.S. vehicles is dismal, well, you’re right. Perhaps more right than you know. Official U.S. EPA statistics ascribe a pathetic average of 20.8 miles per gallon to the 2003 car fleet, about 6 percent lower than 15 years ago. The fleet […]