Articles by Grist staff

Half of GM’s manufacturing plants to go “landfill-free” by 2010

Automaker GM is planning to make half of its 181 manufacturing plants worldwide “landfill-free” by 2011 through initiatives to reuse or recycle some 90 percent of its waste, according to USA Today. The not-reused, not-recycled portion of the waste would potentially be incinerated to produce energy. GM has yet to formally announce the program, but […]

BLM finalizes plan for leasing oil shale in U.S. West

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has finalized plans to open some 1.9 million acres of public lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming to oil-shale development, a necessary step on the road to tapping the vast reserves. The technology for turning oil shale into usable crude oil is energy-intensive and heavily polluting, but the Bush […]

Snippets from the news

• BLM releases plan for opening public land to oil-shale development. • What are the effects of public participation on environmental policymaking? • Media ignores Energy Dept. data when reporting on drilling. • Chile reforms salmon farms. • U.S. now world leader in wind electricity generation. • California prepares for water crisis.

EPA requires emissions cuts by lawn mowers and speedboats

Gas-powered lawn mowers and speedboat engines will be cleaner under new regulations announced Thursday by the U.S. EPA. By 2011, engines in new lawn and garden equipment must emit 35 percent less smog-forming emissions, and recreational watercraft must cut emissions 70 percent by 2010. “EPA’s new small engine standards will allow Americans to cut air […]