Articles by Grist staff

Ghana With the Wind

Effective and affordable ways to curb climate change exist — what’s uncertain is whether governments have the political will to implement them. So says the latest study by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released yesterday in Accra, Ghana. A key step will be to reduce the world’s reliance on oil and […]

By Poplar Demand

Plants may prove to be the most cost-effective and safe tool to clean up toxic sites, scientists say. In a process dubbed “phytoremediation,” plants like sunflower, clover, and mustard have been shown to absorb and break down such harmful chemicals as arsenic, zinc, uranium, and lead. “A stand of poplars is a self-assembling, solar-powered, pump-and-treat […]

Steward Little

U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton made her first trip outside Washington, D.C., last weekend, promising an audience of 600 jubilant Republicans in Oregon that the dark days of the Clinton administration were over. She repeated what has become one of her favorite lines, “I respectfully disagree with those who say that to be good stewards […]

Drain, Oh!

The delicate balance of the Pantanal wetlands in southwestern Brazil may be forever altered by a massive project to straighten and dredge the area’s rivers. Powerful commercial interests in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina want to proceed with the Hidrovia project to improve barge navigation through the Paraguay River and other waterways in the region. […]