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Dim and Dimmer

Earth Getting Dimmer; Air Pollution Is Prime Suspect No, you’re not just depressed: The earth actually is getting darker. The amount of sunlight reaching the planet’s surface, researchers say, declined by as much as 10 percent between the late 1950s and early 1990s. In some regions the drop was steeper, including the U.S., Asia, and […]

The Thing of Small Cods

Cod May Be Headed for Extinction, Says WWF Worldwide cod stocks are declining rapidly and could be entirely wiped out by 2020, says enviro group World Wildlife Fund. The global cod catch has declined from 3.4 million tons in 1970 to 1 million tons in 2000, a trend WWF blames on overfishing, illegal catches, and […]

Fined and Dandy

Wal-Mart Fined $3.1 Million for Clean Water Act Violations Wal-Mart has agreed to pay a $3.1 million fine for storm-water runoff violations of the Clean Water Act, in a settlement with the U.S. EPA and the Justice Department — marking the second time it has paid such a fine, after a $1 million penalty in […]

Ay Charisma!

Conservation Efforts Need to Look Beyond Charismatic Species A new article in the journal Nature seeks to change the way conservation efforts are conceived. Rather than focusing on single “charismatic” species like tigers or gorillas, say researchers Anthony Ives and Bradley Cardinale, conservation programs should focus on whole ecosystems. They support their contention with an […]

A Rush and a Swoosh and the Land Is Ours

Nike and Other Outdoor Gear Makers Lobby for Roadless Rule A coalition of large manufacturers of outdoor gear is lobbying in support of the so-called roadless rule, put in place by President Clinton to protect nearly 60 million acres of undeveloped national forest from road-building and other development. Organized by enviro groups, the coalition — […]

Heavy Heart

Driving Is Bad for You Driving too much may not just be bad for the planet — it may be bad for your heart as well. According to new research by the U.S. EPA, tiny particulates that pollute the air inside cars can aggravate existing heart conditions. Rolling your windows up and closing your vents […]

Have You Spotted Owls?

Spotted-Owl Populations Declining The northern spotted owl, a species that took on huge symbolic significance in the early ’90s when activists used its protected status to sharply curtail logging in federal old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, is once again the center of controversy. A study released yesterday shows that spotted-owl populations in the region […]

Fear in a Handful of Dust

Household Dust Carries Toxic Chemicals According to a pair of new studies, common household dust carries “unexpectedly high” levels of PBDEs — chemicals used as fire retardants in computers, appliances, and household furnishings, which researchers suspect may cause cancer and stunt fetal brain development. “Exposure to brominated fire retardants is unavoidable,” concluded a study by […]

Separating the Wheat From the Chaff

Monsanto Abandons Plans for GM Wheat With little fanfare, biotech-food giant Monsanto announced yesterday that it would abandon plans to introduce genetically modified wheat to the market. Anti-GM activists, who have fought Monsanto’s plans for some five years, celebrated the announcement as a major victory. However, the impetus for the shift was likely not the […]

Win Diesel

EPA Announces New Diesel Regulations Today the U.S. EPA put in place tough new regulations on off-highway diesel engines — tractors, bulldozers, locomotives, etc. — which produce more soot than the nation’s entire on-road vehicle fleet. The agency says the regs will cut emissions from such equipment by 90 percent over a decade by requiring […]