Staff Picks
Trying to decide what to read on Grist? Let our editors, writers, and reporters point you toward some of our favorite pieces from the past year, from award-winning stories to new Grist classics.
In This Series
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A deadly fungal disease on the rise in the West has experts worried
Researchers haven’t pinned down exactly what’s behind the rise in Valley fever cases or how to stop it. One thing is nearly certain, though: Climate change plays a role.
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![Awoman wearing a light yellow t-shirt and navy blue overalls holds a picture of her mother, an older woman. In the background you can see a kitchen with light beige walls and lime green tiles.]()
![Awoman wearing a light yellow t-shirt and navy blue overalls holds a picture of her mother, an older woman. In the background you can see a kitchen with light beige walls and lime green tiles.]()
2020 was the deadliest year for environmental activists. Here’s why.
Pandemic lockdowns erased safety networks and left environmental defenders more vulnerable to attacks.
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![Collage: Silhouette of the United States with crushed plastic bottles]()
![Collage: Silhouette of the United States with crushed plastic bottles]()
Corporations tried to blame you for the plastic crisis. Now states are turning the tables.
As recycling heads to the dump, Maine and Oregon have a new strategy: Make companies pay.
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![Animation: a drip torch setting trees on fire on a sign that says]()
![Animation: a drip torch setting trees on fire on a sign that says]()
How one town put politics aside to save itself from fire
Timber Wars tore this town apart. Wildfire prevention brought it back together.
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![The singer Lorde in front of a sun graphic]()
![The singer Lorde in front of a sun graphic]()
The missed opportunity of Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’
Instead of offering a vision for the future, "Solar Power" wallows in the "fallen fruit."
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How ‘FernGully’ ended up in the West Virginia coal mines
The classic movie made fairies out to be nature’s champions. They weren’t always seen that way.
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![Animation: a healthy hemlock tree being overtaken by insects, fading into a dead hemlock tree]()
![Animation: a healthy hemlock tree being overtaken by insects, fading into a dead hemlock tree]()
The Northeast’s hemlock trees face extinction. A tiny fly could save them.
The region can’t afford to lose these trees — or the carbon they store.
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![Collage: New York state split into sections, an asthma inhaler, smokestacks, money, and a sewage pipe]()
![Collage: New York state split into sections, an asthma inhaler, smokestacks, money, and a sewage pipe]()
The next test for environmental justice policy? Defining ‘disadvantaged communities.’
New York’s sweeping climate law will prioritize environmental justice communities — once it decides who they are.
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![Fire blazing in the backgroud with two hot shot silhouetted in the foreground as they attempt to fight California wildfires]()
![Fire blazing in the backgroud with two hot shot silhouetted in the foreground as they attempt to fight California wildfires]()
How federal agencies are failing their wildland firefighters
Wildland firefighters protect us. But are we taking care of them?
