Articles by Grist staff

Bush admin proposes low royalty rates in push for U.S. oil-shale development

The Bush administration proposed rules [PDF] for U.S. oil shale development Tuesday that include charging lower royalty rates for oil-shale production on public lands than it does for other oil and gas drilling. The lower royalties are meant to encourage oil-shale production since, as it turns out, the energy- and pollution-intensive process of cooking rocks […]

Snippets from the news

• British eco-town plan could be illegal. • Climate change could mean more kittens! • Women exposed to high levels of PCBs are less likely to birth boys. • Ford shifting to smaller cars. • Wildfire smoke could ease warming in Arctic. • General Motors and utility group will collaborate for electric-car infrastructure. • California […]

Google Maps adds walking directions

Taking another step toward complete indispensability, Google Maps on Tuesday became the first service of its kind to add walking directions. In addition to searches for car and transit travel, pedestrians — and, hell, Segway-ers too — can now find the most direct and flat route from Point A to Point B. The function works […]

World Bank overstates commitment to environment, says internal watchdog

The World Bank overstates its commitment to financing sustainability-minded projects in developing countries and should greatly improve its efforts, according to an internal review. Official estimates hold that the bank put $59 billion into environment-focused projects between 1990 and 2007; while the bank’s coding system makes it difficult to figure out specifics, the Independent Evaluation […]