Articles by Grist staff

Big Ban Boom

Robert Zoellick, the Bush administration’s chief trade official, is calling on the U.S. to challenge the European Union’s ban on genetically modified food. Zoellick claims the ban is both scientifically backward and “immoral,” arguing that it deprives starving people in the developing world of food. The U.S. and the E.U. have adopted polar positions when […]

Pombo and (Unfortunate) Circumstance

U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) was chosen this week to lead the House Resources Committee, much to the dismay of environmentalists. As head of the committee, Pombo, who earned only a 9 percent approval rating from the League of Conservation Voters in the last session of Congress, will have significant say in shaping federal legislation […]

Do Tell

The General Accounting Office, the investigative branch of the U.S. Congress, will meet with regulators from the Security and Exchange Commission next week to discuss whether companies sufficiently disclose environmental risks to shareholders. The meeting was prompted by concerns from Sens. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.), Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), and Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) about corporate liability for […]

Start Spreading the News

It was just your basic annual address to the legislature — until New York Gov. George Pataki (R) surprised and thrilled environmentalists yesterday by announcing that he would require 25 percent of the state’s electricity to be generated from renewable resources within the next decade. New York already gets about 17 percent of its electricity […]