Articles by Grist staff

Japanese Banging Their Heads Over Heavy Metal

After years of defiantly eating whale meat in the face of an international ban on whaling, the Japanese are finally cutting back on their consumption — but they’re doing it because the meat is so highly contaminated by pollution, not because they are concerned about dwindling whale populations. Japanese scientists have found high levels of […]

Sealing Their Fate

Dozens of sea lions, seals, and sea turtles die each year after being sucked into power plants along Southern California’s coast, but federal and regional regulators have done little to stop the deaths. Several power plants use ocean water to cool the super-hot steam that powers energy-generating turbines; intake pipes extend far into the ocean […]

Th!nk Different

Ford will announce today that it has created an independent brand, Th!nk, that will develop and market low-pollution and electric-powered vehicles, as well as battery-powered bicycles. Th!nk, named after an electric car produced by a Norwegian company that Ford bought last year, will soon begin selling bikes and an electric golf-cart-like vehicle over the Internet […]

Dam It All!!

Enviros, who have been heartened in recent months by a growing movement in favor of breaching dams, had cause for remorse on Friday when a gigantic new dam was dedicated in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California. Enviros fear that the $420 million Seven Oaks Dam, erected above the growing sprawl […]