Uncategorized

Weapons of Mass. Reduction

Massachusetts Unveils Nation’s Most Stringent Mercury-Emissions Rules Today Massachusetts announced the nation’s most restrictive regs on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, putting the state way ahead of the Bush administration in addressing the problem. The rules will require four big power plants to install equipment to reduce their mercury emissions 85 percent by 2008 […]

Crop Busting

Monsanto Wins Landmark Biotech Case Against Canadian Farmer The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled in favor of biotech giant Monsanto in a case widely thought to be pivotal for the biotech industry. The court determined late last week that Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser had violated a Monsanto patent by growing the company’s herbicide-resistant canola without […]

Open-source Agriculture

Smart Breeding Holds Promise of Replacing GM Foods Imagine a technology that can produce all the benefits of biotech crops — resistance to pests and pesticides, long shelf life, rapid (or delayed) ripening, etc. — without the worries about environmental harm, corporate consolidation, and international trade wars. Some researchers believe they have discovered — or […]

Audit, Shucks

U.S. Nuclear Contractors Underreporting Worker Injuries Government contractors have underreported injuries and illnesses at Hanford Nuclear Reservation and other nuclear cleanup projects for years, creating a false image of safety for their own enrichment, according to a new federal audit. The Department of Energy, responsible for overseeing cleanups at the Hanford site in southern Washington […]

You Want Fries With That?

High Gas Prices Increase Popularity of Biofuel Many enviros have been bonkers for biofuel for years — trust us, we have the letters to prove it. But with gas prices heading for the stratosphere, the idea of using vegetable oil to power cars is spreading. Some restaurant owners happily give their used oil away as […]

An eco-focused artist and educator answers questions

What work do you do? I am an artist, art teacher, art therapist, and writer, all dealing with a concern for the fate of the earth. I am a contributing member of many national environmental organizations and an active and founding member of a local land-conservation organization. I’ve retired from a 40-year career as a […]

Dispatches from a solar-power training expedition

Walt Ratterman is program director for Green Empowerment, a nonprofit that promotes community-based renewable-energy projects internationally to generate social and environmental progress. Monday, 24 May 2004 GALAPAGOS ISLANDS Today was a day of training on Isabella Island in the Galapagos. It was also a holiday, so there was a celebration first thing in the morning […]

Russian Coquette

Putin Commits Russia to Kyoto Protocol Well, we’ll be damned: Kyoto might just happen. After an international courtship worthy of a Harlequin romance, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Friday that his country “will rapidly move toward ratification of this [Kyoto] protocol,” putting an end to months of teasing and contradictory signals (such a coquette!). […]

Carbon Neutrality: the New Black

Celebs Pay Up to Be Carbon-Neutral It’s the latest hip trend in the entertainment world: carbon neutrality. Celebs from Brad Pitt [sound of young girls screaming] to Orlando Bloom [more screaming] to Bernardo Bertolucci [confused silence] are supporting Future Forests; the U.K. company promises to calculate a star’s total emissions of carbon dioxide for a […]

Table Talk

Environment May Play Key Role in Presidential Election While it’s true that the environment ranks low on the general public’s list of concerns (eighth, according to a recent Gallup poll), in a presidential election widely expected to be a squeaker, every lever that can move a few votes is getting pulled. John Kerry is honing […]