Articles by Grist staff

Songbird endangered in France hunted as a culinary delicacy

Ortolan is a French delicacy: a tiny songbird, roasted whole and swallowed in one bite, bones and all. Ortolan hunting has been banned in France since 1998 to protect the species, but the birds have a high price on the black market, and as many as 30,000 a year are fattened up and sold by […]

Indiana county has three times more parking spaces than residents

Indiana’s Tippecanoe County is home to 155,000 residents whom apparently are swamped with visitors, as the county has 355,000 public parking spaces. We’ll just float this by them: Parking lots can contribute to water pollution, erosion, the urban heat island effect, and local flooding. Which could be extra dangerous for those in a Tippecanoe — […]

Schwarzenegger unveils $9 billion water bond package

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has unveiled a $9 billion water bond plan, including an unprecedented level of taxpayer payout for water projects and funding to build or expand three dams. Lawmakers hope to place some form of water bond on a Feb. 5 ballot, and Democratic legislators will likely spend the next few weeks lobbying […]

San Francisco plans hour of darkness for October

If you’ll be in San Francisco between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, be sure to have a candle handy. Green group Lights Out San Francisco is encouraging residents to turn off all unnecessary lights during that hour to raise awareness of energy use. Nate Tyler, a former Google spokesperson who is […]