Articles by Grist staff

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 […]

Under pressure from Big Canned Tuna, FDA lax in mercury regulation

Under strong pressure from Big Canned Tuna, the Food and Drug Administration is crazily lax in regulating mercury in tuna. Among many examples: In 2000, a draft advisory to pregnant women listed canned tuna as a product highly contaminated with mercury; after FDA officials met with the three largest tuna companies, the final advisory left […]