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John Connor, It Is Time

Australia is famous for its unusual animals (think koalas and kangaroos), but according to a new government report, thousands of the nation’s mammal, reptile, and bird species could go extinct if the pace of land-clearing continues unabated. The report, known as the “Biodiversity Audit” and leaked to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation yesterday, found that 2,891 […]

On the Scrap Heap of History

Improving gas mileage for cars and trucks is a goal shared by virtually all environmentalists — but it turns out that efforts to do so have a hidden downside. As vehicle manufactures seek to improve fuel efficiency by making their products ever-lighter, an increasing percentage of cars and trucks are made from plastic. Unlike the […]

Two centuries later, the explorers rediscover the Columbia River

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Jean Ponzi, Gateway Center for Resource Efficiency

Jean Ponzi promotes environmental education for kids, business people, and the general public as program manager for the Gateway Center for Resource Efficiency, a division of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Monday, 21 Apr 2003 ST. LOUIS, Mo. Earth Week. In my business — environmental education — this strip on the calendar includes actual Earth Day, […]

In a Moment of Leakness

A baffling leak has been discovered at one of the newest nuclear reactors in the U.S. The South Texas Nuclear Project, 90 miles southwest of Houston, was discovered to have leaked cooling water from its large reactor vessel, a problem that experts have never before encountered. “This is the first time it’s been seen, either […]

And other words from readers

  Re: Let It Be Me Dear Editor: I liked the interview with Emily Saliers. But please suggest to Kathryn that she refer to these “new” energy sources as renewable rather than alternative. I am in the business of designing, installing, and promoting the occasional solar-electric system. As long as we keep calling it “alternative,” […]

Afri-can Do

Seeking to capitalize on the potential of renewable energy sources, 10 African nations are collaborating to increase their combined geothermal power generation to 1,000 megawatts by 2020. Geothermal power yields electricity by trapping steam released by water reservoirs deep inside the Earth. It is a clean and reliable energy source, and the United National Environment […]

Pedro Arrojo-Agudo has started a new water culture in the Old World

Economics professor Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, who teaches at the University of Zaragoza in Spain, is using his academic expertise to battle a monster: the National Hydrological Plan, a $25 billion project that would build 120 dams on the Ebro River. The dams would submerge entire towns along Spain’s second-longest river, displace tens of thousands of rice […]

Public Employees Should Be Seen and Not Heard

Speaking truth to power has its price — just ask Dave Moody and Bob Jackson. Moody, one of Wyoming’s leading predator biologists and an employee of the state Department of Game and Fish since 1976, was suspended from his job last week after publicly expressing doubts that the state’s proposed wolf management plan would ensure […]

Lead Story

Lead levels that are currently assumed to be safe for children can significantly impair intellectual development, according to a groundbreaking report published in today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The current U.S. and international allowable blood lead level is 10 micrograms per deciliter, but researchers found that lead levels lower than that […]