Articles by Grist staff

NASA declares 2007 second-warmest year on record, NOAA says it’s fifth-warmest

NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies has declared 2007 the second-warmest year on record, tying with 1998 for the title. 2005 remains the hottest, according to the agency. Researchers said, to no one’s surprise, that the greatest warming occurred in the Arctic. “As we predicted last year, 2007 was warmer than 2006, continuing the strong […]

Green groups seek to overturn mine exemption from ESA reviews

Four green groups and two state agencies have filed a petition with federal wildlife and mining agencies seeking to change the long-standing policy of exempting mountaintop-removal mining from specific Endangered Species Act reviews. In 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided that mountaintop-removal mining wouldn’t unduly imperil threatened species if mines followed other environmental […]

Norway aims to be carbon neutral by 2030

Norway has announced it aims to be carbon neutral by 2030, 20 years earlier than its previous goal set last spring. Up to two-thirds of the emissions cuts will be made in Norway itself (though officials aren’t sure precisely how yet). The other third will be offset by about $550 million a year in carbon […]

U.S. House passes mine-safety legislation; Bush threatens veto

The U.S. House of Representatives passed new mine-safety legislation yesterday aimed at improving dangerous working conditions such as those that may have contributed to the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse that killed six workers and three rescue personnel last year. The bill allows independent investigations when accidents kill more than one miner, grants the Mine Safety […]