Nader Chooses Running Mate from Green Party Peter Camejo, a lifelong activist and two-time Green party candidate for governor of California, will be independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's running mate for 2004. Nader's move is largely tactical: While he has refused to run as a Green, he has sought the party's formal endorsement, which would put him on the ballot in up to 35 states -- and Camejo is well-regarded by Greens. As their nominating convention approaches (it's being held this weekend in Milwaukee, Wis.), Greens are torn between Nader and Texas Green David Cobb, who supports the "safe state" …

California Sues Big Tuna California sued the nation's three biggest producers of canned tuna this week for failing to warn consumers that their products may contain harmful levels of mercury. State Attorney General Bill Lockyer named the makers of Bumble Bee, StarKist, and Chicken of the Sea tuna in the suit, claiming that they violated Proposition 65 -- a 1986 ballot measure that requires companies to notify consumers of known reproductive toxins or carcinogens in their products. Lockyer's office said it had tested the companies' canned albacore and light tuna products and found levels of mercury that require disclosure, though …

U.S. Accused of Trying to Isolate United Nations Population Fund United Nations officials, diplomats, and NGO workers are accusing the Bush administration of attempting to isolate the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) by bullying groups with which it works. Enviros, family-planning advocates, and other folks with a basic sense of decency have long criticized the administration (and previous administrations) for withholding millions of dollars in support for the UNFPA, bowing to pressure from conservative anti-abortion groups that claim the fund -- which, among other things, educates poor women on their family planning and birth control options -- promotes abortion, a charge …

What environmental organization are you affiliated with? I'm planning manager at the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. It provides public transit for the state of Rhode Island. What do you really do, on a day-to-day basis? My job is really about being a liaison between the public and the bus system. Bus systems are not static things, and if they are good ones, they respond to all kinds of stimuli by changing and adapting. New shopping centers or work sites, the entrance changing to the other side of the building on a hospital, street closures, sidewalk enhancement projects, parking policies, …

Urban Planner Seeks New Vocabulary to Describe Sprawl Delores Hayden, a Yale professor of architecture, urbanism, and American studies, found herself struggling when she tried to describe the characteristic features of the sprawling suburbs surrounding American cities -- features that are now ubiquitous but which have emerged so quickly, historically speaking, that our ability to discuss them is limited. So she decided to develop a sort of dictionary, and her "Field Guide to Sprawl" will be released next month. Some highlights: "privatopia" is a gated community where residents accept restrictions in exchange for a sense of safety; "lulu" stands for …

West's Water Woes Put Spotlight on Bush Water Czar When the Bush administration appointed Bennett Riley to oversee both the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation, environmentalists feared the worst. Riley, a cowboy-turned-lawyer and longtime advocate for property rights and against government regulation, hardly seemed like an auspicious choice for water czar. But since then, enviros have come to view him with grudging respect, praising the Colorado River accord he fought for over the objections of many farmers and landowners. They also laud his Water 2025 program, which stresses conservation, efficiency, and water markets -- rather than dams …

Organic Snack Foods on the Rise One of the fastest growing segments of the $23 billion organic foods industry -- faster than produce or dairy products -- is snack food: chips, candy, nutrition bars, and the like, sales of which grew by almost 30 percent last year. If that strikes you as odd, you will be even more befuddled to learn that Frito-Lay is set to unleash organic Doritos. (How will they get that neon orange color?) These eco-Doritos will join the 120 organic snacks going to market this year. Enviros and nutritionists view the development as a mixed blessing. …

Enviro Problems Cause One-Third of Child Deaths in Europe Environmental hazards are responsible for a third of all child deaths -- some 100,000 a year -- in the 52 countries of the European region, according to a new study. Published by World Health Organization researchers in the medical journal The Lancet, the study audited the effects of five environmental risk factors on young people up to age 20: outdoor air pollution, indoor air pollution, poor sanitation, lead contamination, and injuries. In the wealthier countries of Western Europe, traffic accidents were the big killer (and suicide rates were higher). In the …

The Main Objections to Wind Farms The political -- and in some places legal -- pressure to move to renewable energy is raising the profile of wind energy and the wind farms and wind turbines that generate it. In locales from India to the U.K., groups have agitated against wind farms for a variety of reasons. The BBC offers a tidy round-up of the top objections, ranging from the plausible (wind turbines kill birds) to the not-so-plausible (turbines break up clouds, drive away monsoons, and cause drought). Some groups have alleged that the "ghostly noise" from wind turbines causes headaches …

House Rejects Snowmobile Ban, Again Snowmobile news! Here at Grist, we can't get enough of it. Thursday brought a 224-198 vote in the House of Representatives rejecting a measure -- an amendment to the Interior Department's fiscal year 2005 spending bill -- that would have banned snowmobiles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. The same ban was rejected last year in a 210-210 vote. Rather than rehearsing the history of the snowmobile fight (again), let's sample some of the latest rhetoric. Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), the amendment's sponsor, said letting the machines in the parks is "like doing your …