Articles by Grist staff

Bad Reaction

The operators of the vast majority of commercial nuclear power plants in the U.S. have reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that their systems might not function as required during an emergency, according to an analysis of government data by Critical Mass, a nuclear safety group. Of 111 reactors licensed between 1996 and 1999, 102 […]

Great, Scots!

Two private Scottish companies plan to install wave energy machines along Scotland’s west coast, one in the next few months and another by 2002. According to a report by the U.K. government, the cost of harnessing wave power has fallen dramatically in the last 17 years, making it almost commercially viable. The U.K. this year […]

NAFTA Shock

Pollution from manufacturing plants in Canada and the U.S. is on the downswing, according to an annual report released yesterday by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, set up to monitor the environmental effects of NAFTA. Industrial contaminants fell by 5 percent in Canada and 2 percent in the U.S. in 1996, compared to 1995, and […]

I Am the Walrus. Whom Do I Chew?

Climate change appears to be affecting the behavior of wildlife in the Arctic, say researchers who went on a Greenpeace expedition to the region last month. Brendan Kelly of the University of Alaska, head of the research team, noted that the walrus population in particular seems to be in decline. The researchers say the Arctic […]