Articles by Grist staff

The Mahogany and the Ecstasy

Brazil clamped down on the logging of mahogany in the Amazon Rainforest last week, putting in place new rules that require loggers to present plans showing how harvesting will be done sustainably. Brazil produces about half of the world’s supply of mahogany, a highly prized — and highly endangered — wood sought for the making […]

Muggles Get It Right, for Once

The Canadian edition of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” — to be released later this month as the fifth book in J.K. Rowlings’ phenomenally popular series — has been printed on chlorine-free, 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper. With a first print run of 935,000 copies, this is by far the largest recycled […]

Tilling Me Softly

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is encouraging farmers and ranchers to fight climate change with techniques that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Speaking in Kansas on Friday, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced new incentives and technical support programs to help farmers increase carbon sequestration, though her speech was notably short on specifics. Farmers are being […]

Green Collar Jobs

In an unusually strong gesture of blue-green solidarity, 10 major labor unions called on presidential candidates yesterday to back a decade-long, $300 billion research plan to boost energy efficiency, reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, and preserve jobs. Known as the Apollo Project, the plan calls for the promotion of hybrid and hydrogen cars, energy-efficient […]