Articles by Grist staff

Hasta la Vista, Baby?

Monsanto has temporarily tabled its controversial new “terminator technology” while it waits for completion of studies into its potential environmental, social, and economic effects, the company announced yesterday. The gene technology, which makes seeds sterile so farmers must buy new seeds each year, has spurred an uproar of angry protests around the globe, with some […]

Congress Suffers Mass Midlife Crisis

A group of congressional members posed with their surfboards on Capitol Hill yesterday to celebrate the House’s unanimous passage of a bill setting national standards for beach water quality. The bill, now headed for the Senate, would make $150 million available to encourage state and local governments to test coastal waters and warn beach-goers when […]

Protect Your Willy

The number of orca whales along British Columbia’s coast is on the downswing, prompting Canada to place the animal on its threatened species list. The orcas are suffering from declining stocks of salmon, an important food source, and potentially from whale-watchers, who sometimes follow the whales in groups of up to 100 boats. But because […]

Damn Logjam

A plan to remove a dam from the Elwha River in Washington to help restore salmon runs seems to have hit another stalemate, even though the feuding parties agree the dam should come down. Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) is insisting that a bill to fund the dam’s removal include a provision stating that no dam […]