Articles by Grist staff

Pork on Rye, Hold the Sprawl

This year could see Congress approve the most conservation spending ever, some officials are predicting. Republicans and Democrats alike have introduced six major environmental conservation bills in Congress this year, all of which would for the first time fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund with $900 million a year. Money from the fund […]

Sleazy Riders

A number of senators have tacked anti-environmental riders onto an emergency spending bill that would fund NATO’s air war in Yugoslavia and send relief money to hurricane-stricken Central America. House leaders are unhappy with the Senate add-ons and are likely to try to strip them during conference committee this week, and the White House has […]

Hungary to Join EU? Czech Your Laws, Polish Your Record

The six countries next in line to join the European Union are likely to run up against serious problems as they try to comply with EU environmental laws, possibly delaying their EU membership, according to acting EU Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard. Poland in particular has made little progress in meeting environmental norms, Bjerregaard said. The […]

Rising Sunshine

Japan adopted its first freedom of information law last week, giving citizens the right to request information on everything from how the government evaluates environmental hazards to how it spends tax money. Citizens groups have fought for the law for 20 years, and it is still weaker than most of them would have liked. Diplomatic, […]