Uncategorized

Lack of Interest

Three months ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture settled a case against a Texas-based biotechnology company whose genetically modified (GM) feed corn contaminated natural corn and soybeans. The USDA represented the settlement as a sharp crackdown on violators of GM standards — but in fact, the settlement involved a no-interest $3.5 million government loan, meaning […]

Polluters Still Pay (at Least, for Senators)

Bad Medicine

South Africa’s indigenous forests cover less than one-half of 1 percent of the country — and the wooded land that remains is severely threatened by people who illegally gather medicinal plants to turn a profit. Michael Peter, director of the nation’s Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, said the problem isn’t traditional native herbalists but […]

A Kulongoski Time Coming

In his first major speech on the environment since taking office, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) promised yesterday that economic concerns would not undermine environmental protections in the state. In a speech to conservationists, the governor pledged to oppose efforts to roll back environmental regulations such as the state Endangered Species Act; to provide sufficient […]

Dean of Emissions

The federal government has changed its tune on air quality in California, with the U.S. EPA easing pressure on the state to impose more stringent air-pollution controls on farms. Just last month, the EPA said the state should repeal a law exempting large farms from air-pollution monitoring permits; now, it is calling instead for an […]

Everybody’s Gone, Surfing

Summer is on its way to Biarritz, France, the surfing capital of Europe — but despite the surf and sun, no one is yet riding the waves. That’s because surfing is banned in Biarritz and along some 160 miles of coastline in southwestern France, due to lingering environmental problems from the oil spill of the […]

Glenn Hurowitz, WILD PAC

Glenn Hurowitz is the associate director of WILD PAC, a political action committee that works to elect leaders at all levels of government who will champion protection of America’s wilderness and public lands. Monday, 24 Mar 2003 NEW YORK, N.Y. I’m back from Minnesota. During this past week, I had the great opportunity to meet […]

A Bird’s-Eye View of Dwindling Open Space

Congo Drummed

The Ebola virus may be wiping out a number of endangered western lowland gorillas in the conflict-torn border region between Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An Ebola outbreak in the area has killed hundreds of people in recent years, and perhaps thousands of gorillas, say scientists. “Chimpanzees and gorillas are already endangered, […]

Deep Thoughts

Japanese ingenuity may soon bring both potable water and clean energy to a number of periodically parched Pacific island nations, thanks to a new desalination technology that exploits the temperature difference between the ocean’s surface and its depths. The Republic of Palau in the western Pacific has teamed up with Japan’s Saga University to build […]