Articles by Grist staff

Obama won’t send delegation to Poland climate conference

President-elect Barack Obama will not attend the United Nations climate conference in Poland next month nor send a delegation on his behalf, the U.N. climate chief announced Monday. Many climate activists had high hopes that President Bush’s successor would attend the conference as a way to jumpstart the sluggish talks. Explaining his decision, Obama said, […]

NYC announces new, voluntary plan to encourage hybrid taxis

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlined a new, voluntary plan to encourage taxi-fleet owners to use hybrid vehicles after the city’s initial plan to dramatically increase taxi fuel-efficiency was struck down by a federal judge last month.

International talks to save Atlantic tuna begin in Morocco

Representatives from some 46 nations are meeting this week in Morocco to try to hash out an agreement on stemming overfishing of imperiled bluefin tuna while still keeping the bluefin fishing industry alive. Experts say the sustainable catch limit in the Mediterranean Sea should be about 15,000 tons a year, but last year fleets caught […]

Concerns raised about wildfire-fighting chemicals

As wildfires rage in southern California, concerns are burgeoning about the chemical mix that firefolk drop as a fire retardant. It’s “fairly well known that it’s toxic to aquatic organisms, to fish,” says one fire management officer; nonetheless, notes another firefighter, “It’s the people whose houses are not on fire that are concerned about it.”