Articles by Grist staff

Oil and U'wa Don't Mix

In a move that a Colombian Indian tribe says could mean the end of its culture and people, Colombia’s government yesterday granted Occidental Petroleum a license to explore for oil just outside a 543,000-acre reserve inhabited by the U’wa Indian nation. The company had initially sought permission to explore directly on U’wa land, but the […]

Fund for the Whole Family

Worldwide funding for family planning and women’s health has fallen billions of dollars below targeted levels even as the world’s population climbs toward 6 billion, the U.N. said yesterday. The U.N. will mark the birth of the planet’s 6 billionth citizen on October 12. The number of people in the world has doubled since 1960, […]

Not a Creature Was Stirring, Not Even a Grouse

Large swaths of sage and grassland desert in the West are the focal point of a contentious debate over protections for the sage grouse, a large bird that some enviros have taken to calling the “spotted owl of the desert.” The American Lands Alliance and other enviro groups are preparing to petition the feds to […]

They Weren't Wearing Their Lead Yarmulkes

Dozens of Israelis who worked at a nuclear reactor in a remote desert town are seeking millions of dollars in government compensation for cancer they claim resulted from their work. Years of attempts to settle the cases out of court have failed, and now the plaintiffs are pursuing a court case against Israel’s Atomic Energy […]