Articles by Grist staff

EPA sued by 12 states over relaxed toxic-chemical rule

The U.S. EPA’s moves to relax the nation’s toxics reporting rule will not go unchallenged. Twelve states have announced they’re suing the agency over rule changes to the Toxics Release Inventory that allow companies to file less-informative reports and escape reporting if they release less than 5,000 pounds of toxic chemicals, up from the previous […]

Heat waves take a toll on Australian fruit bats

Climate change has, ahem, taken a swing at bats. Unable to deal with scorching heat waves, thousands of Australian fruit bats have flapped their wings, panted, drooled — then dropped dead. Which begs the question: Do bat researchers spend a lot of time yelling, “Quick — to the bat cave!” We really, really hope so.

Chinese officials deny Three Gorges Dam role in landslide

Since a landslide killed 31 people near China’s Three Gorges Dam last week, officials have been rushing to cover their bums. While acknowledging that the massive energy project’s effect on geologic activity must be monitored, a project bigwig pledged that “there will not be any major damage to the life and property of the people […]

U.N. hails success of billion-tree planting program

Nature-lovin’ nations around the world planted more than 1 billion trees during 2007, meeting a kinda arbitrary goal set by the U.N. last November. The effort, boosted by Ethiopia’s planting of 700 million trees, “is a further sign of the breathtaking momentum witnessed this year on the challenge for this generation — climate change,” said […]