Articles by Grist staff

Soft Wood, Hard Hearts

Environmental groups are joining with the U.S. timber industry (!) today in the fight over softwood timber imports from Canada. In a petition expected to be filed with the U.S. Commerce Department today, the groups argue that British Columbia is illegally subsidizing lumber producers by ignoring violations of the Canada Fisheries Act and letting logging […]

Parking Violation

In a move that has provoked conflict in Congress, the Bush administration has instituted a two-year moratorium on expanding national parks, arguing that its first order of business should be to clear up a $4.9 billion maintenance backlog at existing parks. Environmentalists and national parks advocates are up in arms over the moratorium. Less predictably, […]

Shape Up or Ship Out

Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles (D) yesterday ordered a special session of the state legislature to hammer out what would become the world’s first comprehensive law to control waste discharges from the cruise ship industry. The state House has easily passed a proposed package of regulations, but the measure has stalled in the state Senate. The […]

Congo Drummed

Mining in eastern Congo is bringing eastern lowland gorillas closer to extinction and destroying national parks, the World Wildlife Fund said yesterday. Thousands of miners are digging for the mineral coltan, which is used in cell phones, microchips, and nuclear reactors, damaging forests in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in rebel-held […]