Articles by Grist staff

Pop the Corks

Delegates from 127 countries yesterday formally moved to adopt a treaty to ban or reduce the use of 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs), chemicals such as PCBs and pesticides that have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and genetic abnormalities in humans and wildlife. The treaty will be signed by delegates in Stockholm, Sweden, today, […]

With a Knick-knack, Sarawack

Elsewhere in Malaysia, the $5 billion, 2,400-megawatt Bakun Dam project is slated to flood a rainforest area the size of Singapore. The government says the dam is needed to help spur economic development and bring new industry to the 2 million residents of Sarawak, the country’s largest state. But opponents say the dam will displace […]

I Shout, the Shariff

The mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Kamaruzzaman Shariff, announced plans earlier this week to clean up the city by adopting Singapore-style laws to punish litterbugs. He said that contractors in the Malaysian city now pull 44 tons of trash from the city’s rivers every day. Shariff recently visited Singapore and was impressed by the country’s litter-free […]

How Do We Sleep While Our Labs Are Burning?

Federal authorities believe that two fires in the Northwest may have been set early on Monday by environmentalists opposed to genetic engineering. The arson at the University of Washington in Seattle appeared targeted at research to make genetically engineered trees more commercially viable, but authorities said the fire mostly destroyed or damaged work on endangered […]