Articles by Grist staff

Divorce is bad for the planet, says research

Breaking up is hard to do — and bad for the planet too, says new research. Divorce rates around the world are rising, with the consequence of multi-person homes dissolving into multiple residences, which use more land, water, and energy. Ecologist Jianguo Liu, publishing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that […]

U.N. climate conference opens in Bali, Indonesia

Plenty is going on at the United Nations climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, where delegates from nearly 190 nations are gathered to lay the groundwork for a post-Kyoto climate treaty. Conference leaders have said they aim to have a new treaty ready to go by 2009. In the meantime, there’s no shortage of things to […]

WTO may slash tariffs on green goods

The United States and European Union have proposed that the 151 members of the World Trade Organization agree to slash tariffs on at least 43 “green” goods — solar panels, wind turbines, and the like — to boost their global use. A recent World Bank study suggested that removing such barriers to trade of clean-energy […]

This Hanukkah, make time to reflect on climate and conservation

There are three levels of wisdom through which Hanukkah invites us to address the planetary dangers of the global climate crisis — what some of us call “global scorching” because “warming” seems so pleasant, so comforting. Light a candle, heal the earth. Photo: iStockphoto We can encode these three teachings into actions we take to […]