Articles by Grist staff

Hold Your Fire!

Hundreds of forest fires are spreading out of control in the Indonesian regions of Sumatra and West Kalimantan, sending up huge clouds of smoke and threatening air quality across Southeast Asia. The fires are blamed primarily on large plantation owners and small farmers who illegally set blazes to clear forest land. Air pollution from such […]

Thank You Very Little

The Supreme Court yesterday unanimously struck down the tough oil-spill prevention rules that Washington state enacted after the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. The justices said that in most situations, federal laws preempt states from setting their own standards to prevent oil spills from tankers. In 1991, Washington state adopted rules that were stricter […]

Doin' It Dogging Style

Environmental demonstrators are dogging Al Gore on the campaign trail, demanding that he act on behalf of the U’wa indigenous tribe in Colombia, whose ancestral rainforest lands are threatened by Occidental Petroleum’s plans to drill for oil. Protestors say the U’was’ rights are being violated, and point to a violent confrontation last month between U’wa […]

Party On, Ralph

Ralph Nader plans to mount an aggressive campaign for president as a Green Party candidate, spreading the party’s message of environmental protection, an end to corporate welfare, and health care and social justice for all, he said yesterday at a rally of the California Green Party. In contrast to his half-hearted run four years ago, […]