Articles by Grist staff

Paradise Without the Dashboard Light

The word “Zion” means a peaceful paradise — and for the past two years, Zion National Park has lived up to its name. Two summers ago, the famed Utah destination became the first national park in the continental U.S. to ban automobiles during peak visitor season. The resulting changes have been dramatic: fresh air, peace […]

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Fears

Despite its foreign-sounding name, the West Nile virus is becoming an undeniably American concern. Eighty-eight new cases were reported in three states last week, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced yesterday that the mosquito-borne virus is here to stay. About one in five people who get the virus develop flu-like symptoms; less […]

Rubber the Right Way

In other news from the halls of justice, a different federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the U.S. government must foot the bill for cleaning up hazardous waste stemming from a World War II effort to produce synthetic rubber. During the war, most of the natural-rubber exporters were under Japanese control, so demand was high […]

Shelling Out

The first lawsuit in the U.S. over contamination stemming from the gasoline additive MTBE was settled in California yesterday, when Shell Oil agreed to pay the South Tahoe Public Utility District $28 million to help fund the cleanup of tainted drinking water wells. The district filed the lawsuit in 1998, after MTBE contamination forced the […]