Articles by Grist staff

Snippets from the news

• Are falling oil prices a blessing or a curse for automakers? • Some envision offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes. • Credit crisis threatens energy projects in West. • Are Houston’s petrochemicals safe from hurricanes? • Army looks to build world’s strongest solar array. • Climate change makes for stormier Arctic.

Climate change will further spread of wildlife-to-human diseases, says report

Climate change is likely to further the spread of a “deadly dozen” diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans, says a new report from the Wildlife Conservation Society. The nasties: avian flu, babesiosis, cholera, Ebola, Lyme disease, parasites, plague, red tide, Rift Valley fever, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis, and yellow fever. Whee! “The term ‘climate […]

States ranked on energy efficiency, Grist provides drinking game

We suggest that while reading this blurb, you take a drink at every mention of “efficient” or “efficiency.” And go! California, Oregon, and Connecticut are taking the lead in improving energy efficiency, according to the 2008 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. In the face of high energy […]

Feds will designate critical habitat for polar bears

The U.S. government will designate critical habitat for polar bears off Alaska’s coast as part of a partial settlement of a lawsuit brought by Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center for Biological Diversity. The Interior Department declared polar bears a threatened species in May, but neglected to make any stipulations for habitat […]