Articles by Grist staff

New King Coal

Coal has a reputation as the dirtiest fuel around, but the U.S. Department of Energy hopes to reinvent the stuff as clean energy by building an experimental, coal-fired, emissions-free power plant. The project, known as FutureGen, will be built within 10 years and will cost just 10 percent more than an ordinary coal plant to […]

He Kamen Through the Bathroom Window

Dean Kamen, inventor of the much-ballyhooed Segway Human Transporter, has come up with a new innovation: a portable water purifier he says can help mitigate the lack of clean, freshwater sources in impoverished parts of the world. Kamen unveiled a prototype of his creation at the annual cutting-edge “Technology, Entertainment, Design” conference, being held this […]

Chickens Coming Home to Roost

It was the ultimate in pork-barrel politics, except it happened to concern chickens. Earlier this month, the U.S. Congress passed its omnibus spending bill — which included a provision wedged in by Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) on behalf of Fieldale Farms, a Georgia chicken-processing company that contributed $4,000 toward Deal’s election. The provision allows farmers […]

F Is for Fish

The Bush administration received an “F” from the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition for failing to make progress on protecting endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest. The coalition, which is comprised of regional environmental and conservation organizations, said the administration has not implemented three-quarters of the measures mandated under a salmon-recovery plan adopted in 2000. […]