Articles by Grist staff

Chair-ish the Thought

Much to the distress of environmentalists, Rep. Jim Hansen (R-Utah) is poised to become the next chair of the House Resources Committee, which deals with all bills related to wilderness, public lands, endangered species, and mineral resource extraction. The current chair, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), also widely disliked by enviros, will step down from the […]

I Do Know Why, 'Cause There's Carbon in the Sky, Stormy Weather

Representatives of some 180 countries will gather in the Hague, Netherlands, next Monday to begin two weeks of talks to nail down the details of how to implement the Kyoto climate change treaty. French Environment Minister Dominique Voynet said this week that the European Union is united behind the idea that countries should meet most […]

Surveillance Says …

Brazil launched a $435 million program yesterday to fight illegal logging, mining, and drug trafficking in the Amazon rainforest, which is home to about 50 percent of the world’s plant and animal species. The program will establish an air surveillance system and send police out across the region’s 1.9 million square miles. Last year, illegal […]

Bury, Bury Good

Growing numbers of Brits and others are choosing to go to their graves more greenly, in biodegradable cardboard caskets and woodland burials that use trees as grave markers. Enviros point out that traditional burials usually involve a non-reusable wooden casket and a materials-intensive headstone, while gobbling up prime land. Cremation isn’t a green option either; […]