Articles by Grist staff

The Unkindest Cut

The $792 billion tax-cut plan, passed by the GOP-controlled Congress and under veto threat from Pres. Clinton, would give more than $1 billion in subsidies over the next five years to petroleum, chemical, timber, and nuclear-power industries, says Friends of the Earth. One of the biggest tax breaks for a narrow interest would repeal rules […]

Operation Butterfly Storm

The Group of 100, a leading Mexican environmental organization, yesterday called on the nation’s army to defend the winter refuge of monarch butterflies against heavily armed illegal loggers. Locals living near the butterfly refuge in western Michoacan state have reported that 100 trucks loaded with lumber leave the refuge each night. An audit published in […]

I Just Can't Help It — I Looove to Pollute!

A Tampa man portrayed by prosecutors as an incorrigible polluter was sentenced yesterday to 13 years in the slammer, the longest sentence ever given out in a federal environmental crimes case. Gary Benkovitz, 62, owner of a company that cleans and resells 55-gallon drums, has been convicted of deliberately releasing more than 4 million gallons […]

Wind-ing Up for the Pitch

The world’s most efficient wind turbine went to work today in Norfolk, Britain. The 220-foot turbine is thought to be the tallest in Europe and is 50 percent more powerful than the next largest turbine in the U.K. It will supply energy to the national grid, generating enough power for about half the local population […]