Articles by Grist staff

Jesus, Christie!

U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman yesterday proposed replacing five of the government’s toughest air-pollution programs with a single approach favored by the electricity industry. Rules to limit mercury emissions, reduce emissions from Midwestern power plants, and restore visibility in national parks would be scrapped. As a replacement, Whitman sketched a plan to reduce nitrogen […]

Hey Good Lookin', What Ya Got Cookin'?

Nearly all residents in Villaseca, Chile, cook with solar power –pretty nifty in a country where firewood is a big source of energy, contributing to a steep loss in old-growth forests each year. Villaseca in sunny northern Chile has only 300 residents, but proponents of the solar technology hope the gizmos will spread across the […]

Crash Test Dummies?

A panel appointed by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences has eased up on the auto industry in a draft report on fuel-economy standards. An earlier draft, which was leaked to the New York Times, said big increases in fuel economy for cars and SUVs would be possible over the next six to 10 years; […]

Gulp of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone, where nutrient pollution from farms in the Midwest has chocked off fish life, is bigger this year than ever before, according to university researchers. Stretching from the Mississippi River delta to Texas waters, the 8,000-square-mile, low-oxygen area is forcing crabs and other bottom feeders to the surface. Environmental groups […]