Articles by Grist staff

A Real Windfall

All federal agencies in the Denver area will be powered in part by wind under the U.S. government’s largest contract to buy green energy, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced yesterday. The agencies will buy 10 megawatts of power annually from wind farms operated by Colorado utilities — enough energy to run 3,500 households for a […]

You Ottawa Be Ashamed

A coalition of environmental groups yesterday accused Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. of holding secret talks that could weaken environmental protection under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The enviros accuse Canada of leading a charge to weaken the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, an environmental watchdog set up under NAFTA to make sure the three […]

I'll Have No Truck With Diesel

Under a landmark agreement announced yesterday, the three largest grocery chains in Southern California will buy 150 alternative-fuel big rigs to replace heavily polluting diesel trucks. The deal settles a lawsuit filed in 1998 by enviro groups and the state attorney general’s office, which alleged that the companies were exposing people to hazardous diesel exhaust […]

Growth Negligence

Halting the spread of new human settlements is the only way to save the world’s “biodiversity hotspots,” according to a new study published in the journal Nature. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s 6 billion people live in the most species-rich and environmentally threatened areas, says Robert Engelman of Population Action International, one of the […]