Articles by Grist staff

As fuel prices rise, airline industry profits plummet

Buckle your seatbelts, because there’s turbulence ahead for the airline industry. As fuel prices skyrocket in flight (afternoon delight), Big Air Travel is scrambling to cope. The International Air Transport Association predicted Monday that the world’s airlines will lose a combined $6.1 billion this year if oil stays near $135 a barrel. American Airlines will […]

Dow, Boeing ordered to pay $926 million for nuke pollution

A federal judge ordered Dow Chemical and Boeing to pay a total of $926 million for nuclear pollution at the now-closed Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant near Denver, following a jury trial that ended in 2006. The class-action suit against the companies began 18 years ago and involves some 12,000 area homeowners seeking compensation for […]

Snippets from the news

• Tyson Foods stops labeling its chicken as antibiotic-free. • Energy Department group will improve wind turbines. • Could fuel surcharges curb air travel? • Commercial fisherfolk lobby for offshore wind power. • Scientists present CO2 scrubber. • Turkey will sign Kyoto Protocol.

Scooter ridership zooms as gas prices rise

For reasons both environment- and wallet-related, motor scooter ridership is zooming (along with transit and bike ridership, natch). Between 1997 and 2007, annual sales of new scooters jumped from 12,000 to 131,000. Scooter sales in the first three months of 2008 were up 24 percent over the same time period last year, and sellers are […]