Articles by Grist staff

Another Roadside Detraction

The Washington State Department of Transportation has come under attack by citizens who say its practice of spraying the sides of roads to control weeds puts people and the environment at risk. Last year, a decade after promising to reduce its herbicide use, the department instead hit an eight-year high, applying more than 120,000 pounds […]

And other words from readers

  Re: Greening the Elephant Dear Editor: The story about Martha Marks’s efforts to build Republicans for Environmental Protection is a good reminder of why some of us oldies wax nostalgic for the Good Old Days. She is right that the real Republicans used to be wonderful conservationists, with a string of landmark laws to […]

The Endangered Endangered Species Act

The federal Endangered Species Act is so cash-strapped that it is effectively “broken,” the Interior Department announced yesterday. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service blamed the financial trouble on the act’s “critical habitat” provision, which requires federal agencies to consult with the USFWS before embarking on any activity in areas set aside for wildlife recovery. […]

Hunger Strike

The backlash has begun against President Bush’s comment last week that a European Union ban on genetically modified (GM) foods is contributing to world hunger. The reality, critics say, is that the dispute over GM crops is an international agricultural battle with billion-dollar stakes, and that concern about famine in the developing world is a […]