Articles by Grist staff

Frog findings jump into public eye in Minnesota

There's been a flurry of activity in the Minnesota press about atrazine, frogs, and skullduggery. As reported initially by Tom Meersman of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a well-known UC Berkeley biologist, Dr. Tyrone Hayes, was first invited, and then disinvited, to give the keynote speech at a conference organized by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Emails obtained by the Star-Tribune between Hayes and a member of the Pollution Control Agency staff indicate that pressure was brought by the state Department of Agriculture to block the talk.  Hayes has demonstrated that when tadpoles are exposed to atrazine at levels widely found in Minnesota drinking water, they grow up hermaphroditic, something no self-respecting frog -- or at least one interested in reproducing successfully -- would want to be.

Dole-ing Out Favors

A lobbying success story, from the maker of atrazine The manufacturer of atrazine, an herbicide connected by studies to frog deformities and increased risk of prostate cancer in humans, spent $260,000 lobbying the U.S. EPA and other government bodies on behalf of the chemical. Not only that, but Syngenta Crop Protection enlisted the formidable lobbying […]

Overpowering

Utilities seek to build power plants near national parks Visibility in many U.S. national parks is declining and demand for electricity is rising — two trends that are set to collide. Since 2000, the number of applications to build power plants within 62 miles of park boundaries has quadrupled, relative to the previous five years. […]

Bhopal Lowball

Bhopal disaster victims seek to quadruple compensation Victims of the devastating 1984 industrial gas leak in Bhopal, India, have appealed to the country’s Supreme Court to quadruple the amount of compensation they will receive. They have long charged that the Indian government has been slow to distribute funds from a $470 million settlement paid by […]