In the most scathing attack on George W. Bush since the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) blasted the president's environmental record in a speech made yesterday in California. Lieberman, a possible presidential candidate in 2004 and one of 15 senators to be recognized by the League of Conservation Voters for a perfect environmental voting record, was particularly critical of Bush's energy and global warming plans. The senator also took Bush to task for pushing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a proposal Lieberman said he would filibuster "until the caribou come home …

In the first systematic attempt to reform Washington State's fish-hatchery system -- the world's largest -- the Hatchery Scientific Review Group issued a report yesterday recommending the closure of one Puget Sound-area hatchery and alterations for 22 others. The salmon born in Washington State's 100-plus hatcheries are thought to pose a threat to wild salmon because they compete for space in rivers and for food and threaten to wipe out critical genetic variation. The report included 218 pointers encouraging state and tribal fishery managers to, in a nutshell, emphasize quality over quantity and imitate Mother Nature when planning hatcheries. The …

And the reaction: At home and abroad, the response to President Bush's strategy for dealing with global warming was tepid at best. Pointing to counterexamples in Europe, U.S. critics disagreed with Bush's claim that mandatory emissions limits would damage the economy and said the plan was simply a sweet deal for big business. Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) called it a "three-legged horse." Japan's environment minister politely acknowledged Bush's efforts but called them insufficient. The German government said the U.S. plan was almost certainly doomed to fail, and the French environment minister called on the European Union to oppose Bush's plan …

The U.S. EPA has awarded more than $2 billion in grants to nonprofit organizations since 1993 through a process that the agency's internal watchdog says is seriously flawed. Many grants were awarded without competitive bids, and some groups may have received preferential treatment. Some of the awards went to organizations that subsequently sued the EPA -- although presumably with separate funds. (Grants haven't just gone to left-leaning groups. For example, the National Association of Homebuilders, which received $2 million in research grants, sued the agency to eliminate a rule barring developers from excavating in swamps, bogs, and marshes without approval.) …

Remember the eager young Naderites? Although it seems like another lifetime, it was only 15 months ago that supporters of the Green Party were telling us, with a sense of foreboding in their cracking voices, that there was "no difference" between presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush. In the Naderite view, both were shills of corporations who would pursue policies that differed in their despicableness only in degree. One of these men is not like the other. It was a laughable argument, even then -- one of the stupidest ever made in modern U.S. politics. True, it was …

The levels of pollutants spewed into the air over New York City following the Sep. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center exceeded even those of burning oil wells during the Gulf War, according to a new study released yesterday by scientists from the University of California at Davis. The study, which was the most thorough analysis of the dust and smoke following the attacks, found elevated levels of sulfur, silicon, titanium, vanadium, and nickel -- all in very fine particles that can contribute to a range of health problems, including emphysema. The findings bolster support for allegations by some …

Saying that chemical contamination in the city's water supply led to miscarriages and infant deaths, 25 women have sued Chesapeake, Va., and almost 170 more plan to do so. According to a growing number of studies, the chlorine commonly used to purify drinking water can cause birth defects and miscarriages when it mixes with organic matter, such as fertilizer in surface water. In what has become a test case for the nation, the Chesapeake women are arguing that the city did not adequately warn them when toxins in their tap water reached harmful proportions -- sometimes almost 10 times higher …

A Superior Court judge in Rhode Island paved the way for a landmark lawsuit earlier this week when he gave state Attorney Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D) permission to sue manufacturers of lead-based paint. The paint industry had attempted to derail the trial by calling for every one of an estimated 300,000 owners of lead-painted homes to be codefendants. In a triumph that was hailed by anti-lead activists around the country, the judge disagreed, and Whitehouse is expected to go to court within six months. Paint companies maintain that they will win the case by showing that childhood lead poisoning is …

Every day I try to protect my children from problems I didn't create and cannot solve alone. I spread cream on their skin to shield them from the ultraviolet radiation that sneaks through our thinning ozone layer. I try to feed them food free of pesticides and hormones, but I know their bodies are exposed to a cocktail of toxic chemicals every day, despite my efforts. I give money and time to environmental initiatives and help care for a few hundred acres of land. Tread lightly on the bike path of life. I do what I can, but really keeping …

The Bush administration has asked for $98 million to help protect Colombia's Cano Limon oil pipeline from attacks by leftist guerrillas. The pipeline, which is owned by Occidental Petroleum, supplies crude oil to the U.S. and has the capacity to pump 240,000 barrels a day. But constant attacks -- 13 so far this year -- have reduced its flow to a trickle. More than 2.5 million barrels of Cano Limon crude (roughly 10 times the amount spilled by the ExxonValdez) have leaked into Colombia's rivers and onto rangelands in the last 15 years, sickening people and poisoning water sources and …