Articles by Grist staff

Wal-Mart to purchase a lotta wind power in Texas

Retail behemoth Wal-Mart announced Thursday it will soon purchase up to 226 million kilowatt-hours of wind power each year from a nearly completed wind farm in Notrees, Texas, that will provide about 15 percent of the energy needed to power 360 of its stores and distribution centers in the state.

Electric-car infrastructure coming to California’s Bay Area

California’s Bay Area will enjoy an electric-car infrastructure by 2012, startup Better Place announced Thursday. The mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose signed on for the plan, which will cover the region with charging and battery-exchange stations at an estimated cost of $1 billion.

Shell Oil can’t drill in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, says appeals court

Shell Oil’s plans to drill in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea have been shot down by a federal appeals court. The Minerals Management Service failed to take a “hard look” at the impact of drilling on whales and subsistence hunters, the court ruled, and there remain “substantial questions as to whether [the plan] may cause significant harm […]

Cash from U.K. carbon auction may not go toward fixing climate

The United Kingdom held the E.U.’s first carbon-permit auction this week, raising some $80 million — but has angered environmentalists by socking away the funds into general coffers instead of promising to put the money toward tackling climate change.