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 …

A federal judge dismissed an effort by the timber industry and users of off-road vehicles (ORVs) to overturn former President Clinton's order to designate 328,000 acres of federal land in California's Sierra Nevada as Giant Sequoia National Monument. The plaintiffs challenged the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president the authority to establish monuments. They argued that the act was unconstitutional, and said Clinton should not have been allowed to ban logging, mining, and ORVs in Giant Sequoia. U.S. District Judge Richard Urbina disagreed and upheld Clinton's order. Industry groups have filed suit in other courts to challenge national monuments …

The U.S. Senate yesterday voted 99-0 to approve a $345 billion anti-terrorism defense bill, after voting 100-0 not to get sidetracked by amendments like one that would have opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas drilling. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) had proposed to add the entire GOP energy bill to the defense bill, but even he in effect voted against his proposal after Republicans met together and decided not to engage in such partisan tactics. However, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) later promised to try to advance GOP energy plans by the end …

A cement plant in Camden, N.J., shouldn't be allowed to operate because it may be imposing an unfair pollution burden on a poor, minority neighborhood, a South Camden citizens group argued before a federal appeals court on Tuesday. A lawyer for the group told a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection was wrong to give the go-ahead to the plant before conducting a "disparate-impact" analysis to determine if the facility would affect minorities more than whites. The environmental-justice community is watching the case closely. The 3rd Circuit sided …

Navajo activists plan to rally today and tomorrow against an energy bill before the U.S. Senate that would give $30 million to fund uranium mining on Navajo Nation lands in New Mexico. They say the mining would contaminate the drinking water of more than 15,000 people. Lori Goodman, spokesperson for Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, described the plan as "corporate welfare," and railed on U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) for hatching the idea to support the mining while providing no funding for the health problems caused by past uranium mines.

Following a negative environmental report from the California Energy Commission, a major energy firm has ended its plans to build a big power plant seven miles from Joshua Tree National Park. Environmentalists had feared that a new state law to speed power-plant approval, which was created in the wake of California's energy "crisis" this spring, would mean that plans for the power plant would go ahead. But the commission gave the thumbs down to the InterGen plant, comforting park officials who feared that it would harm the endangered desert tortoise and other animals by bringing more dirty air to the …

Facing an uphill battle, Donald Schregardus, President Bush's choice to head the U.S. EPA's enforcement division, withdrew his name from consideration yesterday. Schregardus told Bush in a letter that it was clear that his "nomination will not be considered by the U.S. Senate in a timely manner." He was right to think so. Earlier this month, the EPA released a report that was critical of environment enforcement efforts in Ohio, where Schregardus used to head the environmental agency. Since then, Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.), head of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has made clear that he wouldn't move …

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) flew right over the cuckoo's nest and straight into nutville with his widely mocked decision to add "eco-terrorists" to the list of possible suspects responsible for the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Don Young getting restless. For the unlucky few who missed the Alaska congressman's appalling bloviation, here's what he told the Anchorage Daily News: "If you watched what happened [at past protests] in Genoa, in Italy, and even in Seattle, there's some expertise in that field. ... I'm not sure they're that dedicated but eco-terrorists -- which are really based …

Drawing unfavorable attention to President Bush's choice to head the U.S. EPA's enforcement program, a preliminary report released yesterday by the agency found that Ohio has done a poor job enforcing air-pollution rules. Bush's nominee, Donald Schregardus, led the Ohio EPA during most the 1990s. The report said that air inspections, investigations of complaints, and amounts of penalties collected have all declined in Ohio in recent years. In addition, the Ohio EPA employed fewer people than it had said would be necessary to enforce clean-air standards. The federal agency said it would move to take control of Ohio's environmental enforcement …