In an unprecedented act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced yesterday that it would suspend work on about 150 congressionally approved water projects to review the economics used to justify them. The move follows last week's decision by the Corps to suspend its deepening of the Delaware River to review the economic analysis, one of many that had come under increasingly vocal criticism from within and without the Bush administration. Now billions of dollars worth of other projects -- as much as a fifth of the Corps workload -- will come to a halt, in some cases indefinitely. The …

President Bush rejected a U.S. EPA proposal that would have gone much further toward improving air quality than his pet Clean Skies Initiative, according to administration documents. To cite just one example, the EPA proposal would have limited sulfur dioxide emissions to 2 million tons per year by 2010; by contrast, the (so-called) Clear Skies plan would limit such emissions to 3 million tons per year by 2018. The White House claimed the EPA plan was unrealistic, but critics say it was rejected because it imposed too many restrictions on the energy industry. Bush continues to maintain that his plan …

It's one thing for lobbyists to ply governmental officials with policy requests (that's what they do); it's another thing for government officials to actively seek input from lobbyists when crafting national policy. But apparently, in the Bush administration, that's what officials do: According to Energy Department documents (released following a lawsuit by the Natural Resources Defense Council), a top official emailed a leading gas industry lobbyist in March 2001 to ask for help in shaping energy policy. The email reads, in part, "If you were King, or Il Duce, what would you include in a national energy policy, especially with …

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In a blow to the property-rights movement, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday against Lake Tahoe property owners who had argued that they were entitled to monetary compensation from the government for restrictions placed on use of their land. The origins of the legal battle stretch back two decades, to when the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency placed a three-year moratorium on development in the Lake Tahoe Basin to study possible environmental impacts. Property owners who bought land before the restrictions were enacted but were largely unable to develop it filed suit against the planning agency in 1984. The plaintiffs had …

By a vote of 68 to 31, the Senate yesterday killed an attempt to remove a measure in the Democratic energy bill requiring U.S. refiners to triple their use of ethanol by 2012. The measure would increase nationwide use of the corn-based fuel additive from about 1.7 billion gallons this year to 5 billion gallons by 2012. That's good news for corn-growing farmers; many environmentalists also back the measure because ethanol is a greener fuel additive than its most common counterpart, MBTE, which reduces smog but also pollutes groundwater. One clear beneficiary of the measure is agribusiness giant Archer Daniels …

It might not reach Arctic Refuge-proportions in its intensity, but a battle being joined today by the Bush administration over national monuments promises to be a doozy. It will encompass debates about everything from oil drilling to dirt bike-riding, and will pit Western lawmakers, landowners, and the recreational-vehicle industry -- all of whom generally want as few restrictions as possible on monument lands -- against environmentalists, who hope to protect the areas with strict management plans. Over the objections of many Republicans, former President Clinton created 19 national monuments covering more than 5 million acres of federal land in the …

Delegates from almost 200 countries are meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, this week to discuss the future of genetically modified organisms. Their challenge is to strike a balance between the fondest hopes of the multi-billion dollar biotech industry and the deepest fears of environmentalists, who worry that GMOs could adversely affect ecosystems and human health. During the conference, environmentalists plan to call for a moratorium on planting genetically modified crops near native species, to prevent contamination of the natural gene pool. The last major international meeting on GMOs, held in Colombia in 1999, resulted in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, …

The following letter of resignation was submitted on April 22, 2002, by Robert Martin, the national ombudsperson for the U.S. EPA. Martin, who has held the post since 1992, was well-regarded by environmentalists for his handling of complaints about Superfund cleanups, but less beloved by higher-ups at the agency. He said his resignation was provoked by EPA Administrator Christie Whitman's plans to transfer him to the Office of Inspector General. Martin is the second important official to resign in protest of EPA policies and politics this year. To: Christine Todd Whitman Administrator, U.S. EPA From: Robert J. Martin National Ombudsman …

Robert Martin marked Earth Day by resigning yesterday from his position as ombudsperson for the U.S. EPA. Martin, who has held the post since 1992, was well-regarded by environmentalists for his handling of complaints about cleanups conducted under the EPA's Superfund program, but less beloved by higher-ups at the agency. In November, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced plans to transfer Martin to the Office of Inspector General, a move she said would grant him greater independence. Martin begged to differ; he chalked up his resignation to the "untenable situation" with Whitman, but could return to his job if his legal …