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Flagging Energy

Kerry Talks Energy on the Stump; Bush Bashes His Plan Kerry talked up his plan for energy independence over the weekend while campaigning in swing states (does he go anywhere else?), saying such swing-state-friendly things as, “You want to drive a great, big SUV? Terrific. Terrific. That’s America.” That’s America indeed. Kerry’s $30 billion energy […]

Blind Spotted

Judge Rules in Favor of Owls; Forest Service Not so Owl-Friendly Two recent developments on the spotted-owl front: On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delayed and possibly killed several planned timber sales in the Pacific Northwest by ruling that current regulations meant to protect the northern spotted owl “blatantly” contradict the Endangered […]

Finally, Pollution We Can Be Happy About

Prozac Found in U.K. Drinking Water Denizens of the British Isles have a reputation for being somewhat glum, but that may change soon: According to the U.K. Environment Agency, the antidepressant Prozac is building up in the nation’s rivers and groundwater, a situation it called a “potential concern.” In the decade leading to 2001, prescriptions […]

Feeling Minnesota

Bush Touts Plan to Expand Farmland Conservation Program In the crucial swing state of Minnesota, which President Bush lost by a narrow margin in 2000, he pledged this week to expand the nearly 20-year-old Conservation Reserve Program, whereby farmers are paid an annual rent for setting aside environmentally sensitive land. The program pays out roughly […]

Shite!

Storms Send Tons of Sewage into London’s Thames River Up to a million tons of raw sewage were pumped into the Thames River this week as London’s aged sewer system was overcome by torrential rain. We’ll pause a moment here while you try to wipe the image of a million tons of sewage from your […]

Are You My Mother?

Scientists Enable Salmon to Birth Trout Scientists in Japan have succeeded in causing salmon to give birth to trout. Yep, you read that correctly: By transplanting the “primordial germ cells” — specialized tissue in embryonic fish that will eventually develop into sexual organs — of a North American rainbow trout into the embryos of young […]

A Real Kick in the Asthma

Global Warming Expected to Increase Smog Enviros sometimes struggle to connect distant, abstract issues like global warming to kitchen-table issues like dirty air and asthma. Well, here you go: By 2050, global warming is likely to increase the number of smog-alert days (in which air quality violates federal standards) by some 60 percent in 15 […]

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World Bank

World Bank to Continue Investing in Oil and Mining Sigh. The World Bank announced this week that it will continue to invest in oil, gas, and mining projects. Concern that such investments encourage the enrichment of corrupt elites and exacerbate rather than alleviate poverty led the bank to commission an independent review of extractive investments […]

Gray Matters

Russia’s Gray Whales Threatened by Oil Development A massive oil development project threatens gray whales that spend their summers in the Sea of Okhotsk off the remote Russian island of Sakhalin. While their close cousins off the California coast are thriving, the gray whale group in Russian waters has dwindled to around 100, with perhaps […]

Funds in the Sun

Landmark California Solar Initiative Sitting on Schwarzenegger’s Desk If California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signs off on the “Million Solar Homes Initiative” in its present form, some $100 million in subsidies will go toward insuring that 50 percent of all new homes in the state be equipped with photovoltaic solar panels by 2013. The landmark […]