Articles by Grist staff

Ebony Days for Ivory

Vietnam’s wild elephant population faces certain extinction unless action is taken to protect the animals, according to a study released yesterday by Fauna and Flora International, a British conservation group. Between 98 and 150 wild elephants now live in the nation’s fragmented forests, down from an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 in 1990. Though poaching for […]

Banging Heads Over Hard Rock

Environmental regulations governing hard-rock mining on federal lands are applied unevenly and without necessary expertise, the National Research Council said yesterday in a long-awaited report. A committee of the council identified “several gaps in existing regulations that need to be filled,” and said federal agencies need more staff, more authority, and better information. Still, the […]

Fish Don't Fry in the Kitchen, But Beans Do Burn in Brazil

Brazil’s southernmost state yesterday launched a big publicity push to keep farmers from illegally planting genetically modified soybean seeds smuggled in from neighboring Argentina. A black market is growing for the seeds, which save farmers money on herbicides and pesticides. Industry sources estimate that nearly 10 percent of Brazil’s soybean harvest could be genetically modified, […]

Is McCain Able?

GOP presidential contender John McCain yesterday called for cutting federal subsidies for oil, gas, ethanol, and sugar and using the money to fund a school voucher program. A major theme of McCain’s campaign has been fighting special interests, and in going after the oil and gas subsidies, he strikes against an industry that is a […]