Uncategorized

Gold Diggers

The California gold rush of 1849 sent would-be miners rushing to the hills and streams of the Sierra Nevada. But some of them never made it that far, stopping instead to mine gold from Death Valley. Now, a proposal by the Colorado-based Canyon Resources to expand its operations by opening a second open-pit gold mine […]

A three-part series profiling ecological economists

In 1776, the year the Scottish economist Adam Smith invented free-market economics with his book The Wealth of Nations, the total population of the globe was less than 700 million people. The coal-hauling locomotives and steamships that were to drive the Industrial Revolution were still 30 years off. Free-market economic theory grew and flourished in […]

Wheat in the World?

South Dakota is home to the largest unbroken stretch of prime waterfowl nesting habitat in the nation — but if farmland continues to gobble up natural areas, the state’s wildlife, landscape, and water quality could all suffer. South Dakota has seen almost 1.1 million acres of rangeland and pasture disappear in the last 20 years, […]

Attack of the Clones

Move over, Dolly: For the first time in history, scientists have successfully cloned an endangered animal, giving rise to speculation about what role technology will play in preserving — and even reviving — imperiled species. Using a single frozen skin cell, scientists at the San Diego Zoo cloned a Javan banteng, a cattle-like animal native […]

Scott Hoffman Black, Xerces Society

Scott Hoffman Black is executive director of the Xerces Society, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the diversity of life through the conservation of invertebrates. Monday, 7 Apr 2003 PORTLAND, Ore. Email and a large cup of coffee — pretty much how all my Mondays start. My daughter River is off to school, my […]

And other words from readers

  Re: Little Bundle of Consumption Dear Editor: Thanks go to Umbra for outlining her perspectives on the environmental consequences of childrearing. I agree wholeheartedly and have found myself in both a personal struggle and heated arguments about the topic with friends. I now have one child and plan, though guiltily, to keep it this […]

Brazilian Whacks

In what may be the worst industrial accident in Brazil’s history, a massive chemical spill into two rivers has cut off the supply of clean water to some 600,000 people in three states near Rio de Janeiro. A reservoir at a pulp and paper factory leaked 320 million gallons of caustic soda and chlorine into […]

Well, They Otter

Sea otters should be allowed to frolic freely along the Southern California coastline, according to a new recovery plan drawn up for the threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Hailed by enviros, the plan, developed over 14 years, advocates the end of a federal program that relocates otters away from shellfish grounds […]

Research and Destroy

It’s been a bad news week for whales. First, Iceland announced that it would begin hunting minke, fin, and sei whales again after a 13-year hiatus. The nation says the whaling will be strictly for research purposes, but environmentalists say the plan is a smokescreen for commercial hunts. The World Conservation Union’s Red List ranks […]

Ceci N’est Pas Une Small Fine

The U.S. EPA has levied a $34 million fine against the Colonial Pipeline Company, the largest civil penalty the agency has doled out in its 32-year history. The company owns a 5,500-mile underground pipeline that snakes through 14 states on its way from Texas to New York; the fine is for violating the federal Clean […]