Articles by Grist staff

Polar-bear listing decision must be made by May 15, says judge

The last time we checked in with the laggardly Interior Department, it was saying it needed until June 30 to decide whether to place polar bears on the endangered-species list. But the department had better find its Decider Pants soon, as a federal judge has sided with green groups to impose a new deadline of […]

McCain, Clinton support summer gas-tax rollback

Hillary Clinton. Photo: Marc Nozell U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain have said they support temporarily suspending the federal excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel over the summer to ease the impacts of high fuel prices on consumers. McCain indicated he would shift revenue from other sources to cover the estimated $9 […]

Snippets from the news

• Washington, D.C., kickstarts bike-sharing program. • Tentative deal reached on farm bill. • Are hybrids unhealthy? • Gov. Schwarzenegger pushes for a power line through a state park. • Canada’s environment minister proposes limits on VOCs. • Russia says “nyet” to mandatory carbon caps.

U.S. should back off from biofuels to bring down food prices, says Texas guv

Has the U.S. push for biofuels contributed to rising global food prices? Well, yes, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday: “There has been apparently some effect, unintended consequence from the alternative fuels effort.” But, she hastened to add, “biofuels continue to be an extremely important piece of the alternative energy picture” and “we think […]