Articles by Grist staff

Soil Ain't Green

Just 16 percent of the world’s farmlands are free of problems like chemical contamination, acidity, salinity, and poor drainage, according to a study by the International Food Policy Research Institute and the World Resources Institute. Using satellite data, the groups found that as little as 6 percent of Asia’s farmlands are free of such fertility […]

Natural Dying Killers

The number of orcas whales living off the San Juan Islands in Washington has dropped 15 percent in the last five years and contamination from industrial chemicals in the region’s orcas are the highest found in any living mammal. Yep, things are looking grim for the killer whale. Environmental groups are expected soon to petition […]

Credit Cads

Okay, give the Bushies some, ahem, credit — the U.S. EPA under President Bush is likely to build on at least one other environmental initiative that gained momentum under former President Clinton. We speak of the market-driven air quality program that lets companies buy and trade pollution credits in certain states. Last week, the EPA […]

They've Got a Little List

One environmental order by the Clinton administration is likely to go unchallenged by the Bush administration: The decision last fall by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service not to add any more animals or plants to the endangered species list until at least the end of this year. The agency said that it had to […]