Articles by Grist staff

Put a Tiger in Your Bank

Exxon argued in front of a packed courtroom yesterday that a judgement awarding $5.3 billion in punitive and compensatory damages against the company for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill is excessive and should be dropped. The company’s lawyers told a panel of three judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Exxon […]

Turtle Necks on Chopping Block

Southeast Asia is on the verge of completely killing off its once-bountiful turtle populations to feed the voracious demand for the critters in China, where they are sought as food and medicinals. Biologists say that in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, it can be nearly impossible to find even a single turtle in national parks […]

Don't Pave Paradise — Put Up a Parking Garage

Parking lots are coming under fire from environmentalists. The lots can’t absorb rain, so water runs off the pavement, carrying pollution and causing erosion. At the same time, the lots absorb heat from sunlight, releasing it at night and raising temperatures in urban areas from six to 12 degrees compared to nearby rural areas. The […]

Al "Soccer Mom" Gore

Suburban voters will be key in the 2000 presidential election, and candidates are courting the suburbs with different approaches. For example, Al Gore is pitching green-tinted issues that appeal almost exclusively to suburbanites — suburban sprawl, traffic congestion, open space preservation. But rather than framing the issues as environmental, he’s connecting them to families, speaking […]