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Dis and Makeup

Most U.S. Cosmetic Companies Resist Calls to Phase Out Suspect Chemicals A growing controversy over phthalates — chemicals frequently used in cosmetics, including nail polish and fragrances — highlights dramatic differences in the way potential toxins are handled by U.S. and European Union regulators. Phthalates have been shown to cause adverse reproductive effects in laboratory […]

Where the Deer and the Sarin Gas Play

Rocky Mountain Arsenal Gives Birth to Wildlife Refuge Nearly 5,000 acres of the former Rocky Mountain Arsenal reopened this weekend as a national wildlife refuge. Located some 10 miles northeast of Denver, Colo., the arsenal, a 27-square-mile chemical-weapons complex that for four decades produced sarin, mustard gas, and napalm, left behind one of the nation’s […]

Readers sound off on green computing, ranching, and more

  Gotcha! Dear Editor: I wanted to commend you for making me smile today with your April Fools edition of the Daily Grist. After being outraged that the EPA would be folded into the Department of Homeland Security, I was excited about the ban on snowmobiles. I did think it was unusual that I was […]

From Worse to Bad

OMB Revises Science Peer-Review Proposal In response to a chorus of criticism, the White House Office of Management and Budget yesterday released a revised version of its proposed guidelines on the use and release of scientific information by federal agencies. The original proposal found support from such stalwart believers in pure science as the National […]

The Young and the Restless

Groups See Environment as Key to Getting Youth Vote With the coming presidential election expected to be squeaky tight, a host of groups are looking for an advantage in the youth vote, and many think the environment is just the issue to stir up excitement. “[T]he amount of interest we’re seeing [on college campuses] is […]

Don’t Cry for Weeds, Argentina

Genetically Modified Soy Stirs Up Trouble in Argentina Argentina’s adoption of genetically modified soy was touted as a big GM success story, propping up struggling farmers and the country’s sinking economy, but seven years later it is causing an environmental disaster, say researchers. The crop, sold by GM giant Monsanto, raised yields so quickly that […]

Burned Biscuit

Siskiyou Forest Salvage-Logging Proposal Is Sign of Conflicts to Come With another oppressive drought settled over the Western U.S. and a rough wildfire season on the horizon, conflicts like the one over salvage logging in the Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon could be a sign of things to come. The Forest Service has proposed a […]

Downward-facing Smog

EPA Announces New Air-Quality Standards and Offenders Today the U.S. EPA made two long-awaited announcements, the first a list of U.S. counties in violation of new, stricter air-quality standards, the second a set of rules meant to improve air quality. Both were the result of legal wrangling stretching back for years, with enviro groups suing […]

You’re Fired!

Fire Panel Says California Must Make Tough Choices Californians must choose which to protect: the developments rapidly advancing into its once-wild hinterlands, or the hinterlands themselves. So said a report released yesterday by a commission formed to develop policy recommendations in the wake of last year’s devastating wildfires in the state. While the report recommended […]

I Smell a Rat

Rat Poison Industry Had Undue Influence on EPA Regs, Say Critics Makers of rat poison were allowed to influence, and in some cases rewrite, two U.S. EPA regulatory initiatives meant to make their products safer, according to environmental and consumer-safety organizations. The first initiative was proposed by the EPA under President Clinton in 1998, when […]