Several years ago, Louis Blessing’s wife asked for his help replacing the battery in her laptop. An electrical engineer by training, Blessing figured it would be a quick fix. But after swapping out the old battery for a new one and plugging the laptop in, he discovered it wouldn’t charge....
In Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley,’ Black communities get all of the pollution, few of the jobs
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and Verite News, a nonprofit news organization with a mission to produce in-depth journalism in underserved communities in the New Orleans area. Residents of the mostly Black communities sandwiched between chemical plants along the lower Mississippi River have long said they...
How baby chickens became America’s hottest commodity
Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply in Helena, Montana doesn’t often see a crowd. But, these days, the line to get in the door can be hours long. People have yelled at one another as they jockey for position and, inside, employees field as many 200 calls a day from eager...
The ‘king of poisons’ is building up in rice
Throughout the Yangtze River Delta, a region in southern China famed for its widespread rice production, farmers grow belts of slender green stalks. Before they reach several feet tall and turn golden brown, the grassy plants soak in muddy, waterlogged fields for months. Along the rows of submerged plants, levees...
Scientists predict a brutal hurricane season while Trump takes aim at NOAA’s budget
With towns and cities in the southeastern United States still reeling from hurricanes that hit last year, scientists are now releasing their forecasts for what could unfold in the hurricane season that starts in less than two months. Colorado State University is predicting nine hurricanes in 2025, four of which...
El eslabón no regulado de una cadena de suministro tóxica
En enero de 2018, Vanessa Domínguez y su marido llevaban unos años coqueteando con la idea de mudarse a otro barrio de El Paso, Texas. Su hija estaba matriculada en una de las mejores escuelas primarias del condado, pero como la familia vivía justo fuera de los límites del distrito,...
Looking to create effective climate change policy? Ask the community.
For Peter Hasegawa, it all started with the heat dome. The labor organizer remembers the 2021 extreme heat event that killed more than 400 people in the state of Washington. That disaster woke up residents and union members to how deadly climate change can be. Although Seattle had passed climate...
A Chicago law could shift where heavy industry operates — and who bears the burden of pollution
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and WBEZ, a public radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan region. Chicago city leaders are set to consider a major overhaul in how and where polluting businesses are allowed to open, nearly two years after the city settled a civil...
The obscure policy that financed many of the last decade’s riskiest energy investments is back
Last week, Missouri governor Mike Kehoe signed into law a bill that packaged together dozens of reforms to utility regulations. Among them was a provision called “construction work in progress,” or CWIP, which allows power companies to bill their customers for the costs of building power plants during their construction...
Why the shipping industry’s new carbon tax is a big deal — and still not enough
Each year, all the cargo ships that crisscross the oceans carrying cars, building materials, food, and other goods emit about 3 percent of the world’s climate pollution. That’s about as much as the aviation sector Driving down those emissions is complicated. Unlike, say, electricity generation, which happens within a nation’s...