Articles by Grist staff

Senate passes asbestos ban, Democrats want to rid toys of lead

Hey, you with the asbestos-contaminated attic: The Senate has unanimously passed a measure to ban importation, manufacture, processing, and distribution of products containing asbestos. Forty other nations have already banned the cancer-causing mineral, which is found in more than 3,000 consumer products in the U.S. Speaking of things that should have happened a long time […]

A look at Sam Brownback’s environmental platform and record

Update: Brownback dropped out of the presidential race on Oct. 19, 2007. Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback, who has represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate since 1996, calls for the U.S. to be “energy secure” so it won’t have to depend on unfriendly countries for oil — and touts ethanol as a homegrown solution to […]

World Bank encourages destructive logging in the Congo, says report

The World Bank’s encouragement of industrial forestry as a means of economic recovery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is counter to the organization’s legal commitment to protecting the environment, according to a new report. An independent inspection panel charges that the bank overestimated possible export revenue from forestry, leading to a logging scramble […]

Research funded by seafood industry concludes that moms should eat fish

A group of scientists affiliated with the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) announced conclusions yesterday that new moms and moms-to-be should eat at least 12 ounces of seafood per week to encourage wee ones’ brain development. Federal agencies, which advise moms to consume no more than 12 ounces of seafood per week to […]