Articles by Grist staff

Reclusive candy billionaire opposes drilling near his Montana land

Ranchers and conservationists fighting to keep drills out of coal and gas deposits along Montana’s Tongue River are finding an ally in landowner and reclusive billionaire Forrest E. Mars Jr., former CEO of the Mars candy company. Sweet.

Federal Trade Commission reviews environmental marketing guidelines

With consumers becoming more and more concerned about greenwashing, the Federal Trade Commission has agreed to review its voluntary environmental marketing guidelines. Today the agency is holding a public forum addressing carbon offsets and renewable energy credits, the first in a series of workshops designed to review the guidelines, which have not been updated since […]

China announces ban on super-thin plastic bags, fees for others

China has announced a ban on super-thin plastic bags in the country as well as a fee for other plastic bags, both beginning on June 1. The ban was prompted by the usual plastic-bag concerns of rampant unsightly litter and the wasted resources used to produce it all. “Our country consumes huge amounts of plastic […]

U.S. Supreme Court refuses Canadian company’s pollution suit appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from a Canadian mining company in a cross-border pollution case, in effect sustaining an earlier appeals court ruling holding the company liable for pollution under U.S. law. Just 10 miles north of the U.S. border in British Columbia, the mining company Teck Cominco has been […]