Articles by Grist staff

EPA overstates pollution enforcement, says GAO

It’s no secret that the Bush administration has slashed fines for polluters: The U.S. EPA issued $137.7 million in penalties in 2007, down from $240.6 million in 1998. But even that level of enforcement is overstated, says a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The EPA publicly reports the penalties it slaps on egregious […]

Crown Estate’s offer fans interest in wind farming

This Guardian story was written by reporter Terry Macalister. Grist is a member of the Guardian’s Environment Network. —– The Crown Estate, holder of the Queen’s property, has helped trigger a resurgence of interest for wind projects in the deep waters off Britain by promising to invest in projects at a time when schemes are […]

Hawaii lei’s out ambitious clean-energy plans

Hawaii’s largest utility has lei’d out plans to help the state source 70 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. Hawaiian Electric Co. has promised to never break ground on another coal plant (yippee!) and will convert existing fossil-fuel generators to local-crop biofuels. Just pour that piña colada in your tank, Hank! “It’s […]

Government report criticizes U.S. plans for carbon dioxide burial

The following is a guest essay from Peter Montague, executive director of the Environmental Research Foundation. —– In the U.S. today we burn coal to make half of all our electricity. This coal emits about 1.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, which is 33 percent of all U.S. CO2 emissions [XLS].[1] CO2 […]