Uncategorized

Vultural Phenomenon

Indian Vultures Near Extinction Due to Cattle Painkiller Three vulture species in India are nearing extinction at an unprecedented rate due to a common painkiller used on cattle in the region. The drug, diclofenac, is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory in the same class as ibuprofen. It has been widely used on humans for decades; it was […]

Semper Filthy

Controversy Grows Over Contaminated Water on Marine Base In what could be one of the largest contaminated water cases in U.S. history, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against the U.S. military over dirty water at Camp Lejeune, a North Carolina Marine Corps base. In 1980, tests of drinking water wells at the base revealed […]

20,000 Toxins Under the Sea

Ocean Mammals Getting Pummeled by Pollution New research indicates that human-made toxins have infiltrated deep and remote parts of the ocean. The Ocean Alliance, a Massachusetts-based research organization, has found troubling levels of DDT, PCBs, and other contaminants in the blubber of sperm whales. Scientists were surprised at their initial findings, as the deep-water whales […]

Survey Says: Don’t Survey!

Bush Admin. to Ease Rare Species Restrictions on Old-Growth Logging Timber companies hoping to log on federal land in the Northwest will no longer be responsible for surveying and protecting some 300 rare plant and animal species, the Bush administration announced on Friday. (Yes, it’s yet another Friday rollback; they were hoping you wouldn’t notice.) […]

Adam Browning, Vote Solar Initiative

Adam Browning is the cofounder and director of operations for Vote Solar Initiative, a nonprofit organization working to jump-start the transition to renewable energy by helping municipal governments implement large-scale and cost-effective solar energy projects. Monday, 26 Jan 2004 SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. It’s Monday, but I will begin my story a little over two years […]

Readers sound off on Lynn Scarlett, Howard Dean, and more

  Scarlett All Bark, Bush Bites Re: Interior Design Dear Editor: After having the opportunity to hear Lynn Scarlett speak at an MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning luncheon this past fall, I am glad to see Grist shining some light on functionaries in the Bush administration who are driving and justifying environmental policy. […]

Crop the Insanity

USDA to Revisit Rules Governing GM Crops The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Thursday that it will begin revising rules governing genetically modified crops. Several of the proposed revisions sounded like good news to wary enviros. One proposed a wide-ranging environmental impact statement assessing the ecological impact of current regulations, something environmental and consumer […]

Rhode Island lawsuit pinpoints lead poisoning as an environmental, not medical, problem

In the spring of 2000, in Manchester, N.H., a two-year-old Sudanese girl named Sunday Abek, just three weeks removed from an Egyptian refugee camp, was treated at an emergency room for a low-grade fever and vomiting. A throat culture turned up positive for strep, and she was sent home with an antibiotic prescription. Three weeks […]

Genetic Drift

GM Will Be Difficult to Contain, Say Scientists Current techniques for preventing the unplanned spread of genetically modified organisms are in their infancy and are unlikely to prevent some GM plants and animals from having unforeseen health or environmental effects, said a panel of scientists from the National Research Council on Tuesday. While the most […]

Michelle Nijhuis reviews The Beast in the Garden by David Baron

One afternoon in mid-January 1991, students in a high school English class in Idaho Springs, Colo., saw a familiar sight outside their classroom windows: Their schoolmate Scott Lancaster, a dedicated competitive cyclist, was starting his daily training run on the wooded ridge behind Clear Creek High School. The 18-year-old clowned for the class as he passed by, then continued on his circuit. He was never seen alive again.