The water election that wasn’t

Hello, and welcome back to State of Emergency. I’m Jake Bittle, and today we’re going to shift the focus away from the storm-battered Southeast and take a look at one of the nation’s hottest battleground states. Election Day is just two weeks away, and the high-octane race for pr … | Continue reading


@grist.org | 8 hours ago

One issue will decide Arizona’s future. Nobody’s campaigning on it.

The fate of the state’s water depends on this election. For politicians and voters, it’s mostly an afterthought. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 13 hours ago

The flood that forced a housing reckoning in Vermont

The interconnected climate and housing crises are putting some Montpelier residents one disaster away from homelessness. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 13 hours ago

Public EV chargers are good for the planet. They’re also good for business.

Research shows that businesses with charging stations nearby see an economic boost. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 13 hours ago

The nation’s first commercial carbon sequestration plant is in Illinois. It leaks.

The locals are worried: “Just because CO2 sequestration can be done doesn't mean it should be done" | Continue reading


@grist.org | 1 day ago

The nation’s first commercial carbon sequestration plant is in Illinois. It leaks.

The locals are worried: “Just because CO2 sequestration can be done doesn't mean it should be done." | Continue reading


@grist.org | 1 day ago

Tribes help tribes after natural disasters. Helene is no different.

Tribal nations long ago learned to stitch together a patchwork of support to help each other cope with disasters like Hurricane Helene. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 1 day ago

What happens to the world if forests stop absorbing carbon? Ask Finland.

Natural sinks of forests and peat were key to Finland’s ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2035. But now, the land has started emitting more greenhouse gases than it stores. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 2 days ago

The tiny potato at the heart of one tribe’s fight against climate change

Wetlands absorb carbon from the atmosphere. The Coeur d’Alene’s restoration would do more than just that. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 3 days ago

When hurricane evacuation isn’t an option

Not everyone rides out storms like Milton or Helene by choice. Some simply cannot afford to flee. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 4 days ago

As Helene’s immediate impacts recede, a public health threat rises

A shortage of potable water and the toxic stew of sewage and other pollutants the flood left behind has prompted a race to avert a public health crisis in North Carolina. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 4 days ago

Amazon’s inflatable plastic pillows are officially a thing of the past

Across the globe, Prime packages will now be cushioned by paper. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 4 days ago

UN report backs up Sámi claims that mining in Finland violates their rights to land and culture

"Sustainability is an empty word if you don't respect and implement Indigenous rights here in our homelands." | Continue reading


@grist.org | 4 days ago

Thinking of going solar? Wait until you need a new roof.

Solar panels typically last 25 years, while shingles are good for 20. Waiting until you need to re-roof is usually the best course when going solar. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 5 days ago

Water challenges — made worse by rising temperatures — are threatening the world’s crops

“We have to be smarter about what we grow, and we can be smarter about how we grow what we're growing.” | Continue reading


@grist.org | 5 days ago

To prepare for the climate of tomorrow, foresters are branching out

At a reforestation site in Washington, forest managers are experimenting with "assisted migration" — planting trees from warmer, drier regions — to boost the forest's resilience. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 6 days ago

Milton’s October surprise

Hello, and welcome back to State of Emergency. I’m Jake Bittle, and today we’re talking about the political impact of Hurricane Milton, the second major storm to strike the United States in the last few weeks. I grew up in Tampa, Florida, less than 20 miles inland from the Gulf o … | Continue reading


@grist.org | 6 days ago

Wildfires are coming to the Southeast. Can landowners mitigate the risk in time?

No other part of the country has seen such a sharp rise in the number of big fires. The bigger challenge, though, is getting people to embrace the prescribed burns that can prevent them. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 6 days ago

Trump’s proposed mass deportations could ‘decimate’ the US food supply

If the Republican candidate carries out his immigration agenda, who will run America's farms? | Continue reading


@grist.org | 7 days ago

More schools than ever are serving vegan meals in California. Here’s how they did it.

Credit environmentally conscious students — and a handful of state funding programs. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 7 days ago

The fate of thousands of US dams hangs in the balance, leaving rural communities with hard choices

Dams across the country are aging and facing intensifying floods wrought by climate change. But the price tag to fix what’s broken is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 8 days ago

Will exploratory lithium mining in Arizona continue near a sacred hot spring?

A judge will decide the fate of Ha’Kamwe’ as the Hualapai Nation fights the drilling in court. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 9 days ago

From the lab to the legislature: STEM professionals run for political office

More than 200 science, technology, engineering, and math professionals are candidates at the state and municipal level this year. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 10 days ago

Helene and Milton reveal an emerging challenge for first responders: EV batteries catching fire

“They burn hot, they burn fast, and they're hard to extinguish." | Continue reading


@grist.org | 11 days ago

California inspired a wave of plastic bag bans — with an unfortunate loophole

The Golden State finally fixed its ban last month, but at least five other states still allow the distribution of extra-thick "reusable" plastic bags. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 11 days ago

After Milton, Florida assesses damage from back-to-back climate disasters

At least six people died in the storm, and some 80,000 ended up in shelters. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 12 days ago

Black residents in Cancer Alley try what may be a last legal defense to curb toxic pollution

In St. James Parish, a zoning ordinance divides industrial development along racial lines. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 12 days ago

Amidst multiple disasters, FEMA faces funding challenges, misinformation, and politicization

Congress gave the agency enough money to last the year. But back-to-back hurricanes are stretching resources thin. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 13 days ago

Let’s discuss the ethics of climate action

In the series “Moral Hazards,” Grist explores some of the ethical conundrums of living in the era of climate change. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 13 days ago

Ducks love to eat this climate-friendly food. Now you might, too. 

Azolla is a nutritious aquatic fern that grows like crazy. New research finds that the cyanobacteria within the plant are nontoxic, potentially clearing the way for Azolla to become a novel food. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 13 days ago

‘I can’t think straight’: Still buried beneath Helene’s debris, Floridians brace for Milton

Hundreds of thousands of residents are under evacuation orders as the state faces its second major hurricane in two weeks. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 14 days ago

How Helene changes the election

Hello, and welcome back to State of Emergency. My name is Zoya Teirstein. We’ve heard it time and again: Despite what the science says, climate change does not rank high among Americans’ priorities in the ballot box. When we launched this series in August, however, we made the ca … | Continue reading


@grist.org | 14 days ago

Hurricane Helene brought devastation — and an opportunity — to Appalachia’s power grids

As recovery efforts continue, utilities in the region need to rethink their approach to electricity in the face of climate change. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 14 days ago

The solar supply chain runs through this flooded North Carolina town

Hurricane Helene's closure of two essential quartz mines in North Carolina reveals the precarity of the solar energy product pipeline. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 14 days ago

The solar supply chain runs through this flooded North Carolina town

Hurricane Helene's closure of two essential quartz mines in North Carolina reveals the precarity of the solar energy product pipeline. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 14 days ago

How Hurricane Milton exploded into an ‘extraordinary’ storm

Milton's wind speeds skyrocketed by 90 mph in 24 hours. It’s one of the fastest intensification events scientists have ever witnessed in the Atlantic. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 15 days ago

How Hurricane Milton exploded into an ‘extraordinary’ storm

Milton's wind speeds skyrocketed by 90 mph in 24 hours. It’s one of the fastest intensification events scientists have ever witnessed in the Atlantic. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 15 days ago

For Floridians in mobile homes, Hurricane Helene was a disaster waiting to happen

Trailers and manufactured homes have long served as a lifeline for struggling families. A warming world has made them a perilous place to live. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 15 days ago

For Floridians in mobile homes, Hurricane Helene was a disaster waiting to happen

Trailers and manufactured homes have long served as a lifeline for struggling families. A warming world has made them a perilous place to live. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 15 days ago

Al Gore thought stopping climate change would be hard. But not this hard.

Gore has been talking about carbon emissions for more than 40 years. Now he includes a "hope budget." | Continue reading


@grist.org | 15 days ago

How California boosted composting — but broke local composters in the process

As cities and towns contract with large waste haulers to comply with a California composting law, some community composters say they're being pushed to the margins. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 15 days ago

Indigenous voters worry a Harris presidency means endangering sacred lands

Critical minerals buried beneath tribal lands are crucial to the clean-energy transition. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 15 days ago

In arid New Mexico, a debate over reusing oil-industry wastewater

The governor’s plan to use treated water from oil and gas drilling is in limbo while public safety questions swirl. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 16 days ago

The end of an era: Britain’s last coal-fired power plant shuts down

The U.K.’s 142-year history of coal-fired electricity ended as turbines at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant in Nottinghamshire stopped for good. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 17 days ago

Fact-checking the viral conspiracies in the wake of Hurricane Helene

Buoyed by firebrands like Alex Jones and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Helene stirred up a toxic stew of conspiracy theories and culture war politics. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 18 days ago

Fact-checking the viral conspiracies in the wake of Hurricane Helene

Buoyed by firebrands like Alex Jones and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Helene stirred up a toxic stew of conspiracy theories and culture war politics. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 18 days ago

Hurricane Helene could cost $200 billion. Nobody knows where the money will come from.

Almost none of the storm's devastation will be paid out by insurance. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 18 days ago

Can shaming the world’s worst ‘climate criminals’ save the planet?

Climate Defiance activists direct their fury at the rich and powerful. They’ve also started working with them. | Continue reading


@grist.org | 18 days ago