Articles by Grist staff

Warmer weather causes Big Retail to lower profit forecasts

A dozen leading U.S. retailers are reducing profit forecasts and blaming warmer weather for contributing to slumping sales. Retailers plagued by lower-than-expected September earnings included Nordstrom, Target, American Eagle Outfitters, Limited Brands, and JCPenney, all of which have had trouble moving autumn and winter clothing. Our suggestion: prove those reduced-profit predictions right by buying your […]

Satellite solar power plants could be coming soon to an orbit near you

Ooh, shiny: A federal study has concluded that orbiting solar power plants could soon become economically competitive, thanks to rising oil prices. Over a one-year period, sunlit satellites could generate nearly the equivalent of all the energy available in the world’s oil reserves, says the report from the National Security Space Office. In other news, […]

Judge delays work on border fence per insufficient environmental report

The Bush administration tried to “ram” through an insufficient environmental report and must temporarily cease work on a 1.5-mile-long section of fence on the Arizona-Mexico border, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle agreed with the Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club that federal agencies’ three-week-long environmental assessment seemed unnecessarily hurried, but […]

Right whales get safe haven off east coast of Canada, baby orcas high in PBDEs

The International Maritime Organization has approved a proposal to designate a 695-square-mile zone off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, an official Area to Be Avoided, hoping to lower the risk of ship collisions with endangered right whales that tend to congregate there from June through December. However, avoiding the zone is voluntary so ship […]