Climate Cities

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  • Lead Us Not

    Ninety percent of the global gasoline supply is unleaded — but the majority of the remaining 10 percent is consumed in developing nations. That’s bad news for citizens of those countries because leaded fuel is associated with neurological damage, particularly in children. Now, though, there’s some good news from the United Nations Environment Programme: Most […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Big, Bright Green, Pleasure Machines

    Suzy Becker Cities

  • Mass. Devastation

    Laws designed to protect the environment are only useful if they’re enforced — and in the state of Massachusetts, they often are not. Indeed, the Bay State has one of the nation’s worst enforcement records, according to a new federal website that allows the public to monitor enforcement of anti-pollution laws. Only 27 percent of […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Sea-cow Tipping

    Manatees were killed in record numbers by collisions with watercraft in Florida in 2002, according to the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The commission found that 95 manatees were killed by watercraft last year, or 14 more than in 2001. By contrast, overall manatee deaths in the state fell, from 325 in 2001 to […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Silverado — Why Don’t We Come to Our Senses

    General Motors, the largest automaker in the world, announced today that it will sell a variety of gas-electric vehicles over the next four years, a move that could help push hybrids into the mainstream. The company will sell hybrid versions of cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs, thereby creating some competition for Honda and Toyota, currently […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • There Goes the Neighborhood

    Despite pressure from the glitterati in Los Angeles, the Ahmanson Ranch, a proposed 3,050-home development project in Southern California, received a crucial vote of confidence from Ventura County supervisors yesterday, when they agreed in a 4-1 vote that the project would effectively balance the region’s housing needs with its environmental concerns. The Ahmanson Ranch project […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Subway Diet

    The threat of a transit strike in New York City has been staved off — for the moment, at least — but New Yorkers still have reason to worry about their public transportation system. The more than 4 million people who use the Metropolitan Transit Authority pay more to keep it running than do mass-transit […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Filling Up Wide Open Spaces

    Forget about urban sprawl; the new menace facing the U.S. landscape is rural sprawl, according to some experts. In seeking refuge from city life, Americans started by moving to the suburbs; then they started building beyond the suburbs, creating “exurbs”; now, they’re gradually expanding into some of the country’s most remote areas. Growth rates of […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Dodge Bawl

    Looking to minimize your impact on the environment? Don’t buy a car — and especially don’t buy anything made by DaimlerChrysler. The U.S.-based automaker ranked dead last on a survey, released yesterday by the Union of Concerned Scientists, of pollution levels in vehicle fleets. The survey looked at the environmental implications of the six largest […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Bright Lights on the Big City

    Residents of New York, rejoice: Your city might be noisy, crowded, and crass, but it’s also the most compact megalopolis in the U.S. That’s right — the Big Apple ranked number one on Smart Growth America’s recently released list comparing urban sprawl in major metropolitan areas. Other cities that did well include, in order, Jersey […]

    Grist staff Cities