Articles by Grist staff

I’ll Tell You What I Want, What I Really Really Want

Jennifer Ferenstein, president of the Sierra Club, has got a new plan for one of the nation’s oldest and most politically influential environmental groups. Ferenstein wants the Sierra Club to emphasize not just what it’s against (e.g, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, air pollution, global warming) but also what it supports (restoring wild […]

Land O’ Flakes

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has got a blueprint for implementing the Bush administration’s energy plan, and it involves speeding up approval for petitions to drill for oil and gas, creating easier access to petroleum deposits, reducing royalty payments by industry to the government, and easing environmental restrictions. All that, without harming the environment, […]

Graze Under Pressure

Erosion, salinization, urbanization, and unsustainable agricultural practices are causing desertification in many parts of the planet, according to delegates at a weekend conference in Egypt. Desertification is the process by which the water and nutrients needed to sustain diverse plant and animal life are drained from the soil. British scientist Brian Johnson blamed the problem […]

For Lorne

Canada’s federal government has prepared a report to counter opponents’ forecasts that enacting the Kyoto Protocol would devastate the country’s economy. The report by Environment Canada, the country’s environmental agency, says industry claims that Kyoto could cost the country as much as $19-25 billion and as many as 450,000 jobs are bunk. The agency says […]