Articles by Grist staff

Tourism, the Snake Charmer

Breaching four dams on the lower Snake River to protect salmon would likely more than double revenue from recreation and tourism along a 140-mile stretch of the river in Idaho and Washington, according to a draft report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The findings could add momentum to arguments in favor of breaching […]

No Silver Lining for These Muchachos

A Mexican company announced yesterday that it would undertake the largest environmental cleanup in the nation’s history in Torreon, 500 miles north of Mexico City. But many say it’s too little, too late. Pollution from the world’s largest silver refinery in the town has caused severe lead poisoning in thousands of children, and despite studies […]

UK + Y2K = YUCK

The UK may face widespread pollution problems at the turn of the millennium because its industries are failing to adequately address the Y2K computer bug. More than half of 400 companies surveyed by the nation’s Environment Agency have not overcome potential millennium bug issues. Computers play a key role in controlling most industrial processes, including […]

Starting Down a Slippery (North) Slope

Despite protests and a lawsuit filed by environmentalists, the U.S. government yesterday sold oil drilling rights to environmentally sensitive but oil-rich land on Alaska’s North Slope for $105 million. Enviro groups, including the Sierra Club and Wilderness Society, have a suit pending against the federal government over the drilling leases, claiming that the environmental impact […]