"Human beings will never cooperate. War and fighting are part of our very make-up. We're competitive, violent animals." That's what the cynics say, and sometimes it seems as though there is plenty of evidence to support their case. The recent attacks on New York and Washington. Bosnia. Rwanda. Over-fished oceans and over-harvested forests. Fights over water-use rights. Energy production in one region that leads to acid rain in another. You can add to the list. Let's face it. Cooperation just isn't our strength. This is a depressing message, at a time when we are probably going to have to cooperate …

It turns out that this "new economy" of ours may be just as subject to boom and bust as was the economy based on cattle, oil, and lumber. Last month's terrorist attacks emptied Las Vegas, caused hunters to cancel trips to Idaho and Montana and silenced the phones for ski-resort reservations in Colorado. The West's environmental movement was also thrown off balance. You can't easily push to protect an endangered species or attack an oil-seeking administration when lower Manhattan and the Pentagon are in ruins. From the other side of the public-land barricades, demand for oil and gas and aluminum …

It is impossible to conceive of human acts as wholly devoid of humanity as last month's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The nation is reeling, emotionally stranded by confusion, shared suffering, and a stunningly new sense of danger. But if something good has come out of this paroxysm of grief and alarm it is this: Americans are reconsidering what's really relevant and what is less so in our national life. Professional sports stadiums, for instance, were empty for a week. Vapid advertising disappeared from television news programs. The Emmy Awards were cancelled. In this unusual moment of national …

I was in New York City on Sept. 11, so recently I've seen a lot of things go up in smoke. First there were the airplanes, careening nose-first into the World Trade Center towers and -- it seemed almost uncanny at the time -- failing to emerge on the other side. Then there were the buildings themselves, billowing abruptly into oblivion. Less spectacularly visible, but adumbrated on almost every street corner (in the photocopied posters of the missing, in the businessman sobbing uncontrollably on his stoop), were the private dimensions of the tragedy: people's individual lives and livelihoods and loved …

I. The time will soon come when we will not be able to remember the horrors of Sept. 11 without remembering also the unquestioning technological and economic optimism that ended on that day. II. This optimism rested on the proposition that we were living in a "new world order" and a "new economy" that would "grow" on and on, bringing a prosperity of which every new increment would be "unprecedented." III. The dominant politicians, corporate officers, and investors who believed this proposition did not acknowledge that the prosperity was limited to a tiny percent of the world's people, and to …

For the first time, construction of new housing developments in California will be contingent on water availability, under a bill signed yesterday by Gov. Gray Davis (D). The new law prohibits cities and counties from approving housing projects of 500 or more units unless water agencies verify that there is sufficient water to serve the developments for at least 20 years, even in times of drought. The bill's author, state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D), is optimistic that the law can help California reconcile its dwindling water supply with a booming population. (The number of California residents is expected to increase …

In a sign-of-the-times statement, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said yesterday that his committee would stop work on an energy bill for the rest of year to avoid "issues that divide, rather than unite us." Prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, a sweeping energy package was a top congressional priority; now, broad legislation will probably be shelved until 2002, although the Senate may consider a more limited energy security bill. Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), who had hoped to secure committee approval of a plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to …

David Friedman is a senior analyst with the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. UCS educates and works with the public to advocate for environmental solutions based on the best scientific understanding. The Clean Vehicles Program develops and promote strategies to reduce the adverse impacts of the U.S. transportation system. Monday, 8 Oct 2001 NEW YORK, N.Y. On a normal Monday, I wake up in Oakland, Calif., go to my office in Berkeley, start up my computer and sift through any emails I missed the previous week. But today is a holiday and I woke up in …

In a closely contested vote yesterday, the U.S. House defeated an amendment to a massive farm bill that would have shifted $19 billion from crop subsidies to conservation efforts. The defeat, which was engineered largely by lawmakers from traditional farming states, paves the way for approval of a 10-year, $171 billion farm bill that would increase subsides for grain and cotton farmers. Critics, including the Bush administration, say the bill gives too much money to large farms and not enough to environmental efforts, but supporters claim it is the greenest farm bill ever considered by Congress, with conservation spending up …

The Pentagon spends about $5 billion a year on its "environmental security program," trying to reduce the environmental impact of the armed services. But many greenies think that's not enough, and up until the terrorist attacks, the military was facing growing pressure to take the environment more seriously. A proposal in Congress would require the military to comply with the same environmental regulations as other federal agencies, private landowners, and businesses. Currently, military units are sometimes exempted from laws like the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. Native Americans and minorities, who are more likely to live near …