Articles by Grist staff

Lots Toulouse

An explosion at one of France’s largest petrochemical plants last Friday has left 29 people dead, 10 missing, and 2,500 injured. The blast from the AZF plant in Toulouse sent acid clouds into the air and caused problems as far as three miles away. Philippe Douste-Blazy, the mayor of Toulouse, said some 20,000 homes, apartments, […]

Pygmy-aliens

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton on Friday upheld the listing of the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, rejecting arguments by developers that the owl didn’t merit protections because large populations of the species exist in Mexico. She said the act focuses on the status of species in the U.S., […]

A Clean Sweep

Coastal cities in Southern California are latching on to a new, relatively cheap way to combat pollution running off their streets into the ocean — the little-heralded street sweeper. Street sweepers of 20 years ago did little more than collect litter and big dirt particles. Sweepers are now equipped to vacuum up pesticides, fertilizers, animal […]

Oh No! Cardoso

A collection of rural lawmakers in Brazil is pushing legislation that would double the amount of Amazon jungle that could be deforested. The government’s current forestry code requires landowners in the Amazon to preserve 80 percent of their land. The new bill, which still must pass both chambers of the country’s Congress, would change the […]