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Cruising for Trouble

Environmental protesters came out to say good riddance when the Crystal Harmony cruise ship pulled out of port in San Francisco yesterday. The Crystal Cruises company was banned from docking its ships in Monterey, Calif., in March because one of its ships had discharged tens of thousands of gallons of wastewater into the Monterey Bay […]

Crime-iny!

Environmental advocates in Oregon are worried that a bill intended to crack down on so-called ecoterrorism could punish activists who take part in peaceful protests and acts of civil disobedience. The Oregon Senate yesterday overwhelmingly passed legislation that would let “eco-sabotage” crimes be prosecuted under the state’s racketeering laws and would allow prosecutors to seek […]

Don’t Drink to This

Leaders of the Group of Eight nations — meeting for their annual summit in Evian, France, home of the original chichi bottled water — agreed yesterday to throw their weight behind a plan intended to bring clean drinking water to at least half of the 1.2 billion people who lack it by 2015. Aid groups […]

Jeff Lahl, Solar Electric Light Fund

Jeff Lahl is project manager for the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), a nonprofit that works to bring solar electricity to developing countries. Monday, 2 Jun 2003 KANO, Nigeria As of last night, I’ve been in Kano, Nigeria, for a solid month now, but it seems like much, much longer. I thought I’d be here […]

Don’t Fear the Reefer

The Australian government today announced plans to put nearly one-third of the Great Barrier Reef off limits to fishing and trawling. “This will provide the largest network of protected marine areas in the world,” said Minister for the Environment David Kemp. Environmental advocates praised the move but pointed out that the government needs to do […]

Stock Options

Pressure is mounting in the U.S. for major reform of fisheries policies, with the aim of rebuilding fish stocks that have been decimated by decades of overfishing and ecosystem degradation. “What’s going on out there is the last buffalo hunt with regard to our fisheries,” said Leon Panetta, former chief of staff under President Clinton […]

Coal Comfort

A four-and-a-half-year study by the federal government has confirmed what most residents of Appalachia figured was obvious: Mountaintop removal coal mining is destroying the region’s forests and streams. Yet despite the findings, which were released yesterday, the Bush administration does not intend to impose concrete limits on the practice. Instead, it has proposed a plan […]

Another Roadside Detraction

The Washington State Department of Transportation has come under attack by citizens who say its practice of spraying the sides of roads to control weeds puts people and the environment at risk. Last year, a decade after promising to reduce its herbicide use, the department instead hit an eight-year high, applying more than 120,000 pounds […]

And other words from readers

  Re: Greening the Elephant Dear Editor: The story about Martha Marks’s efforts to build Republicans for Environmental Protection is a good reminder of why some of us oldies wax nostalgic for the Good Old Days. She is right that the real Republicans used to be wonderful conservationists, with a string of landmark laws to […]

Tulun: Too Late?

The tiny islands of Tulun and Takuu off the coast of Papua New Guinea are being swallowed by the Pacific Ocean, posing a danger so immediate that their 2,400 residents are being urged to evacuate at once. The islands, also known as Carteret and Mortlock, could become victims of global warming, which is thought to […]