Saying the move would protect tens of thousands of acres of wetlands a year, the Clinton administration yesterday proposed closing a loophole that allows wetlands to be developed. The Clean Water Act restricts developers from filling wetlands to create stable land on which to build and farm, but does not specifically prevent developers from draining wetlands to do the same. In 1993, the administration issued a regulation to forbid such draining, but the courts threw it out as too broad. The new rule, now open for public comment for 60 days, would go a long way toward shifting the burden …

General Motors and ExxonMobil announced yesterday what they called a breakthrough in fuel-cell technology for automobiles. The companies have developed a new system that converts gasoline into hydrogen that is used to run a fuel cell, which in turn produces electricity to power a car or truck. According to the companies, the system is twice as efficient as conventional gasoline-powered engines and emits 50 percent less carbon dioxide and significantly less carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides than standard engines. GM and ExxonMobil plan to put the system into a test car within 18 months and predict that it will be …

The world population, which surpassed 6 billion last year, is expected to hit 8.9 billion by 2050, according to median estimates from the U.N. Population Fund. Average fertility worldwide has fallen dramatically in recent decades, from five children per woman in the 1960s to 2.7 today, and the fertility in 61 countries, representing 44 percent of the world's inhabitants, is below the replacement rate of 2.1 live births per woman. But the overall world population continues to rise steadily, in part because global life expectancy has climbed over the past five decades from 46 years to 66 years. Most of …

Greenpeace International launched a program today to develop and promote sustainable technologies. The group's new solutions-oriented unit will work on projects like desalination systems, sustainable transportation, and renewable energy technology. Greenpeace was inspired to begin the effort after its success in helping to green the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney. Still, the group says theatrical direct action will remain the core of its campaigning. Case in point: Five Greenpeace activists were arrested this week for occupying a barge carrying equipment for a BP offshore oil project in the Arctic.

ABC News yesterday reprimanded reporter John Stossel and suspended producer David Fitzpatrick for one month for their roles in a "20/20" report that questioned the safety and benefits of organic food, two days after the network acknowledged that the story contained false information. The report, broadcast in February and rerun in July, claimed that tests conducted for the network indicated that non-organic produce does not necessarily have more pesticide residue than organic produce, but in fact the tests were never conducted. Stossel has also been ordered to apologize on the air on this Friday's "20/20," a correction that may run …

Ralph Nader's contention that there is no difference between Al Gore and George W. Bush is "irresponsible" and his campaign threatens the environment by potentially tipping the election toward Bush, writes Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in an op-ed in today's New York Times. Kennedy, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council and one of Gore's most powerful enviro allies, says that Gore deserves credit for protecting the environment against the "Gingrich Congress," fighting against global warming, and pushing for stronger air and land protections. Kennedy believes that a vote for Nader is effectively a vote for George W. Bush, …

Scientists have been warning for years about shrinking amphibian populations, but now some researchers are saying that reptiles could be in even worse straits. Reptiles are in decline globally and a number of species face extinction, according to an article published in the journal Bioscience. For example, most species of sea turtles in warm oceans are declining -- the estimated worldwide population of leatherback turtles nesting on beaches in 1980 was 115,000, compared to only 34,500 in 1995. Degradation and loss of habitat are likely the biggest causes of the reptile downswing; other contributing factors include invasive species, pollution, climate …

In an effort to restore the devastated population of horseshoe crabs, the U.S. announced plans yesterday to create a 1,800-square-mile sanctuary stretching from Delaware Bay into the Atlantic where catching the crabs will be prohibited. U.S. Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta also threatened to shut down Virginia's horseshoe crab fishing industry unless the state reduces its catch levels significantly. "Virginia has been strip mining horseshoe crabs," said Daniel Beard of the National Audubon Society. Horseshoe crab numbers have declined by as much as 90 percent over the past decade. Falling crab numbers also threaten 1 million migratory shorebirds that depend on …

As Los Angeles prepares to host the Democratic National Convention next week, local officials are talking up the city's improved air quality. Since 1960, the last year the city hosted the DNC, the region has reduced its peak ozone levels by 68 percent. There were no smog alerts in the city last year and there have been none so far this year, compared to 102 in 1976. Local officials also gleefully point out that Houston surpassed L.A. last year to become the nation's smog capitol. Still, enviros stress that the city's air needs to be cleaned up further. Air quality …

The endangered African rhinoceros seems to be making a comeback, with numbers now higher than at any time since the early to mid-1980s, according to a new report by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and World Wildlife Fund. The IUCN estimates that there were some 13,000 African rhinos in the wild in 1999, compared to 8,300 in 1992. WWF describes the species' recovery over the past century as "one of the world's greatest conservation success stories," and attributes the recent upswing to effective conservation programs in a number of African nations. Still, the populations of two of the six African …