Gore Calls Bush a "Moral Coward" in Speech on Environment The Bush administration is "wholly owned by the coal, oil, utility, and mining companies," said former Vice President Al Gore in a fiery address to a packed theater in New York City on Thursday. The speech -- fourth in a series cosponsored by activist group MoveOn.org and Democratic group Environment 2004 -- took the administration to task for its disregard for global warming, destructive rollbacks of air and water protections, and secret consultations with industry in formulating policy. Prompting one of several standing ovations, Gore claimed, "While President Bush likes …

2003 Tied for Second-Warmest Year Ever The year 2003 tied with 2002 for the dubious distinction of being the second-hottest year since 1880 (when such records started being kept), according to federal government data released Thursday. The hottest year ever was 1998, which scientists attribute to the U.S. release of 'N Sync's debut album. We're kidding about that. We're not kidding, however, about the fact that all five of the hottest years ever have occurred since 1997. The world's average temperature rose by 1 degree in the 20th century; scientists predict that it will rise by 2 to 10 degrees …

Oil Pipeline Through Georgian Republic Runs Into Trouble A $3 billion, 1,000-mile pipeline -- slated to be pumping oil from the newly opened Caspian oilfields through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey to the world market by April 2005 -- has run into a whole mess of trouble. Environmentalists and many local groups are incensed that the pipeline, being built by BP, is set to run through the Borzhomi mountain gorge, a pristine and landslide-prone area that is the source of Borzhomi mineral water (Georgia's third-largest export) and many of the region's tourism dollars. Farmers are incensed that the land-development grants distributed …

Supporters Claim $300 Billion Energy Plan Would Create 3.3 Million Jobs A coalition called the Apollo Alliance released a report on Wednesday proposing and outlining a 10-year, $300 billion investment in alternative energy sources, which it claimed would create 3.3 million jobs and more than pay for itself through energy savings and economic stimulation. The 10-point plan -- which contains prescriptions for everything from more efficient factories to modernized electrical plants to hybrid cars -- contrasts sharply with the Bush administration's proposed energy plan, which would heavily subsidize the oil, gas, and nuclear industries. The report prompted criticism from economists …

Whitman has her say. On Monday, former U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman published an uncharacteristically opinionated commentary in the New York Times lamenting the Bush administration's disregard for moderate Republican viewpoints. Though gently worded, the op-ed stands as the closest thing Whitman has made to a confession that she abandoned her post over an ideological clash with her superiors -- not because of homesickness, as she claimed in her resignation letter. More important, Whitman identified the fault line of radicalism that has begun to rupture the GOP -- a growing chasm dividing moderate and right-wing Republicans over a broad …

Supreme Court to Review Two Important Environmental Cases In what court-watchers are calling an unusually in-depth review of environmental issues, the Supreme Court is set to hear two cases today with potentially nationwide implications for clean air and water regulations. The first is an appeal by oil companies and diesel manufacturers (supported by the Bush administration) who are challenging a Los Angeles-area requirement that diesel-fueled buses, trash trucks, and airport shuttles be replaced with cleaner-burning models. The second is a suit brought by the Florida Everglades-based Miccosukee tribe against a water-pumping station that for years has been piping polluted runoff …

Enviro Disruptions Will Cause More Animal Diseases to Jump to Humans In coming years, diseases -- primarily viruses -- passed from animals to human beings pose one of the principal threats to world health, warned a conference of scientists at the Royal Society in London yesterday. Environmental disruptions ranging from deforestation to population migration to global warming will bring human beings into increased contact with a range of animals, warned the conference, and as a result we can expect to see the emergence of at least 30 new diseases in the coming three decades. Said Professor Tony McMichael of Australia …

In Ironic Twist, Thawing Tundra Causes Trouble for Alaska's Oil Industry Global warming -- brought about in part by the burning of fossil fuels -- has raised temperatures in Alaska and reduced the length of the "frozen season" during which oil-prospecting convoys are allowed to traverse the landscape. The past three decades have seen the season shrink from 200 days to 100. Currently, to protect the fragile plant life beneath the ice, standards require six inches of snow and 12 inches of frozen ground to support heavy oil-prospecting machinery. Funded by the Department of Energy and oil companies, work is …

Climate Scientists Predict More Hot Summers for Europe Thanks to global warming, summer heat waves like the one that killed close to 20,000 people in Europe in 2003 could recur up to once every two years by the end of the century. So claims a study conducted by a group of scientists from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and published in the latest online issue of Nature. Based on computer models of climatological change, the study predicts not a steady rise but rather increased variability and unpredictability in temperatures (which will make it difficult for farmers to compensate …

Top British Scientist Calls Global Warming Bigger Threat Than Terrorism Which menacing global problem should be keeping you up at night: terrorism or climate change? Britain's top government scientist is creating a bit of a stir by arguing that it's the latter, and lambasting President Bush for having his priorities all out of whack. In an article in today's issue of the U.S. journal Science, David King, chief scientific advisor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, castigates the U.S. for refusing to take action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, noting that although the country is home to only 4 percent …