Articles by Grist staff

A three-part series profiling ecological economists

In 1776, the year the Scottish economist Adam Smith invented free-market economics with his book The Wealth of Nations, the total population of the globe was less than 700 million people. The coal-hauling locomotives and steamships that were to drive the Industrial Revolution were still 30 years off. Free-market economic theory grew and flourished in […]

Wheat in the World?

South Dakota is home to the largest unbroken stretch of prime waterfowl nesting habitat in the nation — but if farmland continues to gobble up natural areas, the state’s wildlife, landscape, and water quality could all suffer. South Dakota has seen almost 1.1 million acres of rangeland and pasture disappear in the last 20 years, […]

An interview with the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. Photo: Frank Ockenfels. In the lead-up to Earth Day on April 22, the folk duo Indigo Girls will hit the road with Native American activist Winona LaDuke for a two-week Honor the Earth tour. Beginning April 10, Grammy Award-winners Emily Saliers and Amy Ray will talk — and sing — […]

Great, Britain!

Industries in Great Britain have surpassed goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by almost three times national targets and almost twice international obligations, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs announced this week. In 2000, the British government signed 10-year climate change agreements (CCAs) with 44 industries (including steel, aluminum, cement, chemicals, paper, and […]