Articles by Grist staff

From Russia With Lumps

The oil and gas that Russia loses each year in leaks and spills could provide enough energy to allow the country to close its nuclear power plants, Greenpeace said yesterday. Between 70 million and 140 million barrels of oil are spilled annually in Russia, out of the approximately 2.1 billion barrels the nation produces, the […]

Bill vs. Bill

Keeping a long-standing promise, President Clinton yesterday vetoed a bill that would have required the Department of Energy to move nuclear waste from commercial reactors around the country to a central site in Nevada before completion of a planned permanent waste repository in the state. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to decide as early […]

A Bunch of Ash Holes

In a setback for enviros, the U.S. EPA yesterday decided against regulating ash and sludge from coal-burning power plants as a toxic hazardous waste. Instead, the agency will merely develop voluntary coal-ash disposal standards that states could choose to follow, such as a recommendation that disposal sites have liners. About 100 million tons of coal […]

Bringing Us to Our Ruins

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt suggested yesterday that he will recommend that President Clinton create two more national monuments — one at Soda Mountain in southern Oregon and another at a southwestern Colorado area containing Indian ruins. Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, a president can designate national monuments without congressional approval. Clinton has created five monuments […]