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Drug Busting

Enviros Sue USDA Over Biopharmaceuticals A coalition of green groups and consumer advocates took the U.S. Department of Agriculture to court yesterday in an effort to halt experimental planting of “biopharmaceutical crops,” plants genetically engineered to produce medicine. The coalition, which includes Friends of the Earth and the Center for Food Safety, wants the USDA […]

Chromium and Punishment

New Jersey Wins $17 Million Settlement in Chromium Case A 20-year battle over chromium pollution in northern New Jersey came to an end yesterday when three companies agreed to pony up $17 million to clean hundreds of sites contaminated by the deadly chemical. From the 1890s to the 1950s, Honeywell International, Tierra Solutions, and PPG […]

The Non-Peace Non-Dividend

U.K. Cuts Funds for Amazon Protection to Pay for Operations in Iraq In the latest evidence that war is bad for the environment, biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest stands to suffer because of the conflict in Iraq. Sounds a bit roundabout, but the reason is simple: money. Straining to come up with almost $900 million […]

Feel the Burn

Wildfires Likely to Worsen as Planet Warms From Southern California to the French Riviera and beyond, big wildfires have dominated headlines this year — but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Out-of-control blazes are likely to become an even more vexing problem as climate change intensifies, say a number of scientists. Warmer weather, stronger winds, and […]

Gold Substandard

Unlawful Gold Mining Threatens Brazilian Amazon Illegal gold mining in the rivers of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is on the upswing and could mean bad news for the environment. Thousands of poor small-scale miners, called garimpeiros, risk their lives to get at traces of gold at the bottom of rivers, sometimes employing equipment as basic as […]

Mike Simpson, One Sky

Mike Simpson works on international environmental projects with partners in West Africa and Latin America. He is the executive director of One Sky — The Canadian Institute of Sustainable Living in the rural, northern town of Smithers, British Columbia. Monday, 10 Nov 2003 EN ROUTE TO SIERRA LEONE It’s the bags that always get me […]

Heartbreaker

Air Pollution Boosts Heart Attacks, Says New Study Evidence keeps coming in to show that air pollution kills. New research released on Sunday found that during the 18 highest air-pollution days in Dijon, France, the rate of heart attacks increased by 161 percent among the general population, and by 250 percent among smokers. Fine particulate […]

Readers stump for their candidates of choice, and more

  Re: Go, Wes, Young Man Dear Editor: Many of us are concerned that Wesley Clark lacks an understanding of environmental issues. Aside from all the nice things Clark has to say about urinating turtles, he has virtually nothing serious to contribute on the topic Equally troubling is his support of former President Reagan, who […]

Big Mess on Campus

Widespread Environmental Violations Found at Colleges Colleges and universities are normally thought of as hotbeds of environmental activism — but now, it turns out that some of them are hot with hazardous waste. Twelve colleges in New York and New Jersey have been hit with a total of $2 million in fines for violating environmental […]

Fish Less Foul

Strict Environmental Laws Yield Drop in Mercury Levels in Everglades Mercury levels in the wildlife of the Florida’s Everglades have declined by at least 60 percent over the last decade, according to a study by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The findings were hailed as the first indicator that efforts to reduce mercury pollution […]