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The Sahara Club

Global Climate Change Heats Up Africa It’s the cruelest of ironies: Africa, the continent that contributes the least to global climate change, is suffering the most from its effects, according to a study conducted by scientists at Great Britain’s Hadley Center, one of the world’s leading facilities for climate-change research. And here’s another irony: Part […]

It Was the Salmon Mousse

Farmed Salmon Found to Contain PCBs Okay, so you’ve read the latest word on mercury in tuna and changed your diet accordingly. But wait! We’re sorry to report that you might have to alter your fish intake yet again, in light of new findings that farm-raised salmon contain high levels of PCBs. In a study […]

The Story of O

Ozone Hole Reaches Turning Point, Scientists Say For the first time, scientists have found evidence that worldwide efforts to halt the destruction of the ozone layer are working. Although the protective atmospheric layer has not begun repairing itself, the rate of its destruction has slowed considerably, presumably thanks to the global phase-out of ozone-destroying chemicals […]

Glowing Recommendation

Report Favors Nuclear Power to Cut CO2 Emissions Pick your poison: nuclear power or global climate change? Former CIA Director John Deutch and former Undersecretary of Energy Ernest Moniz came out in favor of the former yesterday, with the release of a report they spearheaded that found that increasing global nuclear power production would reduce […]

Motor Voters

U.S. Senate Votes Against Increased Fuel Efficiency In a blow to advocates of stricter fuel-efficiency standards, the Senate yesterday voted 65 to 32 against a proposal by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) that would have required cars and SUVs to average 40 miles per gallon by 2015. Instead, the Senate backed an industry-supported proposal to let […]

Bark, but Little Bite?

Asserting that illegal logging causes a host of social and political problems, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday announced the launch of a new U.S. campaign to help developing countries fight unlawful deforestation. “Such blatant disregard for the law weakens governments, encourages corruption, [and] undermines democracy,” Powell said. He pointed to the example of […]

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Mock ‘Em

Instead of preaching about the evils of General Motors’ Hummer H2, with its hulking frame and 10-mile-per-gallon fuel economy, the Sierra Club has launched a new website to mock the mega-SUV: www.hummerdinger.com. “G.M. celebrates Hummer’s state-of-the-art 1950’s engine technology with some of today’s hottest stars,” reads a mock story on the site, which goes on […]

Land of the Rising Sun

Japan, weary of being dependent on imported fuel, has taken a shine to solar power. The nation now produces half of the world’s solar energy and has surpassed the U.S. as the world’s leading producer of solar panels. The Japanese government has thrown its weight behind what it sees as a potentially strong export industry, […]

Ross Freeman, American Rivers

Ross Freeman is staff scientist at the Northwest regional office of American Rivers, a conservation organization that restores and protects river systems nationwide. Monday, 28 Jul 2003 SEATTLE, Wash. As far as I can recall, the last time I had an entirely predictable, no-surprises week was during the tail end of my high school years, […]

Curtain Call of the Wild

The man who cleared the way for the lifting of the Iron Curtain now wants to transform the former cold war border region into a large, multinational nature reserve. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, now president of the environmental group Green Cross International, has joined with a number of European conservation organizations in pushing for […]