Articles by Grist staff

EPA requires cruise ships to get discharge permits for graywater

Compelled by court order, the U.S. EPA last week announced that cruise ships and a variety of other vessels will be required to seek permits for dumping certain kinds of waste into U.S. waters, including deck runoff, ballast water, and graywater from showers, sinks, and laundry machines. However, greens say the rules would allow cruise […]

Hundreds of Brazilian eco-activists at risk of assassination, report says

Working to save Brazil’s rainforests, as well as its land, air, and water is a dangerous pursuit, putting at least 260 environmental and human-rights activists at risk of assassination, according to a new report by the Catholic Land Commission. The report’s release coincides with the 20th anniversary of the assassination of activist Chico Mendes, who […]

Swedish crematorium plans to partially heat nearby town

A crematorium in the Swedish town of Halmstad, which has been criticized for its heavy pollution, has announced plans to use the waste heat from its body-burning operations to heat its own facilities and eventually also heat other buildings in town. Cemetery director Lennart Andersson said of the plan, “Of course it’s possible that there […]

Vote for the top eco-villain of 2008

Check out our nominees, and then vote in the poll below. And tell us who we missed in comments. (Also see our list of heroes.) Stephen Johnson Once upon a time, we thought Bush’s EPA chief was a harmless technocrat. Instead he turned out to be the most flaccid apparatchik in an administration groaning with […]