Articles by Grist staff

Good Label Manners

Today’s conscientious consumer has a plethora of choices at the supermarket: “Free-Range,” “Farm-Friendly,” “Organic,” and that warmest and fuzziest of warm-fuzzies, “Natural.” These labels all sound wonderful, but what do they mean? Some of them, it turns out, mean quite a bit, while others mean almost nothing. Bewildered shoppers can get the scoop on which […]

China “R” Us

China’s booming economy is straining the country’s energy resources to the breaking point. Last year its oil imports rose by a third, it became the world’s largest steel importer (surpassing the U.S.), its domestic coal production rose by 100 million tons — and still there were intermittent blackouts as electricity consumption jumped by 15 percent. […]

Natural Corn Killers

Genetically modified corn has crept into Mexican fields, despite a federal prohibition against the planting of GM crops, and indigenous people and small-scale farmers are protesting loudly against the intrusion. In response, the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a body created through the NAFTA environmental side agreement, last week held a symposium on the […]

Stand-up Comity

Oregon’s Siuslaw National Forest has emerged as a model for the way timber companies, environmentalists, and local communities can cooperate to manage forests. It is one of the few national forests in the state exceeding U.S. Forest Service logging goals. It’s also the site of substantial ecological restoration, with streams boasting seven times the levels […]