Articles by Grist staff

Research and Destroy

It’s been a bad news week for whales. First, Iceland announced that it would begin hunting minke, fin, and sei whales again after a 13-year hiatus. The nation says the whaling will be strictly for research purposes, but environmentalists say the plan is a smokescreen for commercial hunts. The World Conservation Union’s Red List ranks […]

Ceci N’est Pas Une Small Fine

The U.S. EPA has levied a $34 million fine against the Colonial Pipeline Company, the largest civil penalty the agency has doled out in its 32-year history. The company owns a 5,500-mile underground pipeline that snakes through 14 states on its way from Texas to New York; the fine is for violating the federal Clean […]

Sweet Tooth and Nail

Efforts to restore Florida’s Everglades hit a snag yesterday, when the state’s top environmental regulator suggested delaying by 20 years the cleanup of phosphorus from South Florida waters. David Struhs, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, had previously backed a plan to reduce the presence of phosphorus from a whopping 300 parts per […]

Black and Blue Canyon

In a move that environmentalists and others fear could set a dangerous precedent, the U.S. Department of the Interior has ceded control over the waters in Colorado’s Gunnison National Park, allowing the state to sell it to cities. Interior Secretary Gale Norton said the decision to hand over control of the river (which was awarded […]