Articles by Grist staff

My Own Public Idaho

Improbable Coalition Proposes New Idaho Wilderness Area An unlikely coalition of ranchers, off-road vehicle enthusiasts, politicians, and environmental groups has, after years of discussion and negotiation, united to propose the first new federal wilderness area in Idaho in more than 20 years. The official wilderness designation would give 511,000 acres of land in and around […]

Live at the Apollo

Renewable-Energy Push Would Create Heaps of Jobs, Study Says Federal policies favorable to renewable energy could yield up to 240,000 jobs by 2020 nationwide, whereas continued focus on new fossil-fuel development would yield only some 80,000 jobs, according to a new study by researchers from the University of California at Berkeley. The research was released […]

Taxpayers could get stuck with tab for new diesel rules

When the Bush administration wants to gin up some environmental cred, it cites efforts underway to slash diesel emissions by requiring trucking companies to switch to cleaner engines. But the untold story is that it may be the taxpayers — not the polluters — who end up footing much of the bill. Big Mac attack. […]

Back to the Salt Mines

Desalination Plants Cause Controversy on U.S. Coasts With water sources increasingly under pressure — running low, contaminated, or too costly to transport — some cities on the U.S. coasts are turning to desalination plants to provide their drinking water, eliciting protests from some enviros and consumer advocates. New filtering technology has made the once-prohibitive costs […]