Articles by Grist staff

Air in 46 U.S. metro areas exceeds allowable soot levels

Over 100 million people in the United States, nearly one-third of its population, live in metro areas that violate federal standards for daily soot pollution on at least some days, the U.S. EPA said this week. However, missing from the EPA’s list of officially sooty areas — and thus exempt from further enforcement actions to […]

EPA declares waste from oil-shale production ‘non-hazardous’

Waste products from oil-shale development are not hazardous and thus would not have to be treated as such, the U.S. EPA ruled this week, thereby lowering the costs of developing oil-shale deposits on public lands in the U.S. West.

Time magazine on ‘top 10 food trends’

Proving yet again that everyone’s obsessed with food, Time has included the edible stuff in its Top 10 Everything of 2008 lists. The mag’s “Top 10 Food Trends” list is interesting reading. Bottled water and local food are out. "Nanny-state food regulations," salmonella saintpaul, and recession dining are all in. Actually, local food isn’t really […]

Proposed new USDA rule generates controversy

What are you seeking when you shell out extra cash for organic milk? Some folks aim to avoid the synthetic growth hormones and genetically modified, pesticide-treated feed U.S. dairy cows typically find in their rations. As currently written, USDA organic rules deliver that. But what about access to pasture? Cows evolved as grass eaters; forcing […]