Uncategorized
All Stories
-
All-consuming Passion
Overconsumption has led to an estimated 33 percent decline in the natural wealth of the world’s ecosystems over the past 30 years, according to a report released by the World Wildlife Fund on Friday. If current patterns continue, humans would need an additional two planets in order to survive, WWF said. The group measured the […]
-
The Lung Arm of the Law
To help cut air pollution in the nation’s smoggiest state, California officials announced last week that they will soon begin converting the state government’s entire 10,000-vehicle fleet to low-polluting or non-polluting vehicles. One quarter of the fleet will be made up of gasoline-powered cars that release up to 90 percent fewer pollutants than typical new […]
-
Got Water?
At least 3.5 billion people, more than half of the world’s current population, are expected to experience water shortages by 2025, according to a new report by the World Resources Institute. Freshwater systems around the world are being degraded by agricultural runoff, wetland loss, dams, diversions, and overuse, threatening their ability to support human, animal, […]
-
Chain Reaction
Enviros and human rights advocates chained themselves to the door of the Mexican attorney general’s office on Wednesday, calling for the release of two environmental activists who have been jailed on apparently trumped-up drug and weapons charges. Amnesty International, the Sierra Club, and other groups assert that Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera were arrested, tortured, […]
-
Getting Something Off Their Chests
A few environmental activists in California are trying a new tactic to bring a halt to the logging of ancient redwoods — “Goddess-based, nude Buddhist guerilla poetry,” or, in laywoman’s terms, females baring their breasts and reciting poetry to unsuspecting logging crews. “They stop their chainsaws and they stop their trucks and they pay attention,” […]
-
Risky Business
Fifty-six percent of Americans believe the environmental risks of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska outweigh the potential benefits, and only 29 percent say opening ANWR to drilling would be worth the risks, according to a poll conducted by the Mellman Group and released yesterday by The Wilderness Society and […]
-
Top Tense List
George W. Bush was grilled on air pollution in Texas and a number of other serious issues last night by none other than Dave Letterman. Letterman, who had Bush as a guest on his late night show, told the governor he thought it was a joke when he heard that Bush is pushing for oil […]
-
Fuels Rush In
Arizona is facing a major budget crisis because of a well-intentioned but poorly designed law that gives residents big incentives and tax breaks for buying vehicles that run on alternative fuels. The program was expected to cost between $3 million and $10 million, but so many residents have taken advantage of it that it is […]
-
Oiled Again!
Work began yesterday on a multibillion-dollar pipeline that will carry oil from Chad through Cameroon to Africa’s Atlantic coast, a project bitterly opposed by environmentalists and human rights advocates. The World Bank is supplying 3 percent of the financing for the $3.5 billion, 670-mile pipeline project, which is being spearheaded by ExxonMobil. Opponents argue that […]
-
Best of the Wurst
Hoping to gain the high ground on climate change, the German government announced new steps yesterday that are aimed at making sure the country fulfills its pledge to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 21 percent from 1990 levels by 2010, as agreed to in the Kyoto climate change treaty. Measures passed yesterday include support for […]
