Corporate climate targets are a mess. Could tracking ‘spheres of influence’ help?

New research proposes a new, more expansive way to look at companies’ contribution to global net-zero. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Here’s how much cropland could be freed up if Americans ate half as much meat

A national flexitarian diet would reduce the amount of U.S. farmland by roughly the size of South Dakota. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Your guide to a disaster-prone election year

Hello and welcome to week three of State of Emergency, a limited-run newsletter about how disasters are reshaping our politics. I’m Jake Bittle. Hurricane Michael tore across the Florida Panhandle as a Category 5 storm less than four weeks before the pivotal 2018 midterm election … | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

How do you reduce the carbon footprint of a political convention? One donation at a time.

Organizers want the 50,000 attendees to pitch in toward solutions. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Your guide to voting after a disaster

How to cast your ballot, in person or by mail, if extreme weather disrupts your life. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Extreme weather 101: Your guide to staying prepared and informed

How to pack a go-bag, get emergency alerts, and find disaster aid. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

How can you tell if soil is healthy? Just listen to it.

First-of-its-kind research shows how "ecoacoustics" can help scientists monitor the health of soils — using underground critter concerts. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Breaking down a Georgia Power bill

Here's a look at all the charges that make up a typical monthly electricity bill for many Georgia residents. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Recent Supreme Court decisions are already slowing climate progress

Supreme Court rulings limiting federal authority have upended the legal landscape — and could discourage bold climate policies. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Research shows that what you call climate change doesn’t matter much

People don't need "climate emergency" or "global boiling" to make them worried. They're already worried. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

The rural Americans too poor for federal flood protections

A data-driven disaster tool shows “bias” against rural communities. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

For Florida corals, unprecedented marine heat prompts new restoration strategy — on shore

North America’s only barrier reef is withering from heat and disease. Can efforts to preserve and propagate the corals at land-based facilities save them? | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Hurricane Ernesto arrived way early. It’s an ominous sign.

A third Atlantic hurricane usually doesn't form until three weeks from now. Yet here's Ernesto, bearing down on Bermuda. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

The US says it now supports a more ambitious plastics treaty. Industry groups are furious.

In a reversal, the Biden administration will back production limits as part of the United Nations’ global plastics treaty. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Vegan cheese that tastes like cheese? These startups may have cracked the code.

Next-generation cheese makers are using precision fermentation and AI to pursue the final frontier in plant-based foods. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Canada’s first ‘prisoner of conscience’ is an Indigenous land defender

The distinction is given to people who are incarcerated for their politics, religion, or ethnicity, as well as other personal and protected statuses. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Two lawsuits challenge the EPA’s regulation of ethylene oxide

As the regulatory fight over toxic sterilization facilities continues, the health of more than 14 million people may hang in the balance. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Most Americans don’t know the country’s biggest climate law helps the climate

Two years on, the Inflation Reduction Act is seeing results — but not name recognition. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Climate change fueled last year’s extreme wildfires — some more than others

If emissions aren’t curbed, extreme wildfires could become six to 11 times more likely by the end of the century. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Humans know very little about the deep sea. That may not stop us from mining it.

With a newly elected leader, the International Seabed Authority must decide the future of more than half of the world’s ocean floor. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

How greener schoolyards benefit kids — and the whole community

Between 2000 and 2012, Denver converted all its elementary school campuses to green spaces. A new study tracks the economic benefits. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Workers across the US rally after string of heat-related deaths

Airport, retail, and agricultural workers in 13 cities are demanding elected officials enact heat protections. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

How food banks prevented 1.8 million metric tons of carbon emissions last year

Redistributing food before it’s tossed or wasted doesn’t just fight hunger — it also fights climate change. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

The American West’s megafires are silencing birds

One sound index used to monitor biodiversity fell by as much as 15 percent following particularly smoky days, according to a new study. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

The American West’s megafires are silencing birds

One sound index used to monitor biodiversity fell by as much as 15 percent following particularly smoky days, according to a new study. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

The state rep who sparked Colorado’s fire recovery

Hello, and welcome back to State of Emergency, a limited-run newsletter about how disasters are reshaping our politics. I’m Jake Bittle, a reporter for Grist, and I’ll be writing this newsletter along with my colleague, Zoya Teirstein. It’s almost a truism that disasters offer an … | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

How the Marshall Fire sparked a political transformation in Colorado

After the fire destroyed his town in 2021, a state rep took on insurance companies, mortgage lenders, and landlords — and beat them all. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Politicians don’t get how popular climate action is. That’s a problem.

The misperception gap widens when officials get more money from fossil fuel interests. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

We’re in debt to the Earth. How can we repay it?

"Earth Overshoot Day" reminds us that humans consume more resources than the planet can provide. Correcting that requires reimagining human behavior. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Minnesota settles ‘deceptive environmental marketing’ lawsuit over ‘recycling’ plastic bags

The lawsuit was among a burgeoning crop of plastics litigation amid growing awareness of a global plastics crisis. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Biden administration announces more than $2 billion in grants to boost US power grid

The grid is overburdened, under-resourced — and vital to the energy transition. New federal funding aims to increase capacity and get more clean energy built. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

How the 2024 Paris Olympics handled the heat — and didn’t

The summer games can't compete with rising temperatures. Here's what that means for the future of the Olympics. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

On a rural Hawaiian island, solar provides a path to energy sovereignty

A community-driven effort is driving Molokaʻi's transition to solar power and cultivating a local workforce to make it happen. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Farmworker advocates celebrate rare EPA ban of toxic pesticide

The immediate suspension of DCPA will spare workers' children "lifelong harm." | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

States want to clean up leaky oil wells. Well-intentioned laws are getting in the way.

Hard-to-meet federal requirements are slowing down the pace of remediation, state regulators say. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Carbon credits are supposed to funnel money to poor countries. Do they?

Researchers say there is "no evidence" that they bring economic benefits to communities where projects are based. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Indigenous youth are at the center of major climate lawsuits. Here’s why they’re suing.

"If I don't do it, who will?" | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

High-tech textiles can protect workers from the heat — but not from their bosses

As the planet warms, laborers need special clothes to cope. But they also need government protections. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

How outdoor programs are adapting to the challenge of extreme weather

This organization helps young people heal through outdoor experiences. It's working around the sweltering Texas summer. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Spying from space: How satellites can help identify and rein in a potent climate pollutant

Methane levels in the atmosphere are rising. An armada of satellites could help identify leaks from oil fields, landfills, and animal feed operations. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

New fossils reveal an ice-free Greenland. It’s bad news for sea level rise.

“We’re creating a world where these ice sheets are going to melt.” | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Rez dogs are feeling the heat from climate change

A lack of infrastructure and extreme weather are putting unhoused pets on reservations in danger. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

The climate vice president? What Tim Walz brings to the Harris ticket.

A progressive with a penchant for coalition building, Walz boasts state climate experience. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Disaster on the ballot

Hello, and welcome to the first issue of State of Emergency, a limited-run newsletter from Grist. My name is Zoya Teirstein, and I’ll be co-reporting this project with my colleague Jake Bittle. We’re glad you’re here. Data shows that while some voters rank climate change among th … | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

Can chief heat officers protect US cities from extreme heat?

Appointed officials have the life-saving solutions the public needs to stay safe from rising temperatures. But they don’t have political power. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

The delight — and power — of unplanned urban green spaces

Just like an impromptu hangout can be as fun as a formal gala, even an informal green space can provide the benefits you’d get from an official park. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

The lost history of what Americans knew about climate change in the 1960s

It wasn't just scientists who were worried, but Congress, the White House, and even Sports Illustrated. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago

A year after the worst wildfire in modern US history, the people of Maui try to heal

Lāhainā residents are skeptical a proposed $4 billion settlement will restore their community. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 months ago