Articles by Grist staff

Getting the Vapors

Concerns About Hanford Worker Safety Grow Concerns over the safety of workers cleaning up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southwestern Washington state — site of the largest nuclear waste dump in the Western Hemisphere — continue to escalate. Yesterday, the Department of Energy announced a formal investigation of the private contractor that monitors worker health, […]

Apocalyptic Pentagon report on global warming could spur action on Capitol Hill

We’re having a heat wave … Image: NOAA. A hair-raising Pentagon report [PDF] on the potentially imminent and colossal national security threat posed by climate change has been making its way around the Internet since its release in late January, and this week it picked up considerable speed. Fortune magazine was the first major news […]

Garbage Cans and Garbage Can’ts

Federal Court Rules EPA Incineration Emission Standards Insufficient Federal standards governing emissions from garbage incinerators are inadequate and must be rewritten by the U.S. EPA, ruled the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., yesterday. The controversy over incineration emissions began in the 1980s, when garbage incinerators became common nationwide. The EPA issued a set […]

Rotterdam It

Convention on Dangerous Chemicals Goes Into Effect The Rotterdam Convention, an international treaty meant to protect developing nations from dangerous chemicals already banned or restricted in wealthy nations, went into effect yesterday, after garnering support from 50 signatory countries, as needed to give it the force of international law. Many toxic chemicals, particularly pesticides for […]