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Is the U.S. prepared for a major oil spill in its waters?

In the wake of November’s massive oil spill off the coast of Spain that continues to despoil hundreds of miles of undeveloped shoreline, disrupt vast fisheries, and jeopardize the livelihoods of the people who depend on them, the European Union has begun to crack down on old, poorly maintained, single-hulled tankers like the sunken “Prestige.” […]

Home Is Where the Environmental Devastation Is

Divorce has been blamed for everything from falling academic grades to rising crime rates — and now a new report says broken homes are partly to blame for environmental devastation. According to a study appearing in the journal Nature, social trends such as living alone, having fewer children, divorcing more often, and remaining single longer […]

Thank God

Environmentalism is getting a big boost from religious communities that increasingly see protecting the Earth as central to their theology, according to the Worldwatch Institute. In its annual “State of the World” report released late last week, Worldwatch found that religious organizations from all corners of the globe are urging their congregations to save wildlife […]

You Know You’re Old Growth When …

Polar Bear Market

The polar bear — that pinnacle of megafauna adulation — could disappear from the planet this century as a result of global warming, according to a top scientist. The Arctic-dwelling animal, which is the world’s largest land predator, is thought to be particularly susceptible to climate change because it relies on floating sea ice to […]

Start Spreading the News

It was just your basic annual address to the legislature — until New York Gov. George Pataki (R) surprised and thrilled environmentalists yesterday by announcing that he would require 25 percent of the state’s electricity to be generated from renewable resources within the next decade. New York already gets about 17 percent of its electricity […]

This Is Your Brain on SUVs

Remember the federally funded ad campaign that discouraged drug use by claiming that drug money benefited terrorists? Syndicated newspaper columnist Arianna Huffington does, apparently, and she’s taken a page of the U.S. government’s book by launching ads of her own that accuse owners of gas-guzzling SUVs of abetting terrorists. Huffington teamed up with some like-minded […]

In Deep Du Du

The U.S. Navy regularly tests one of its weapons by firing radioactive ammunition into prime fishing waters off the coast of Washington state, a practice that fishers, scientists, and activists say could be harmful to human and environmental health. The weapon, known as the Phalanx or the Close In Weapons System, fires up to 4,500 […]

Bjorn Loser

In 2001, Danish author Bjorn Lomborg rocketed into the spotlight with the publication of The Skeptical Environmentalist, which claimed to debunk virtually all environmental concerns, from global warming to species extinction, and sought to assure the public that there was nothing much to worry about, ecologically speaking. Now, a division of the Danish Research Agency […]

Jeff Reifman, Antarctic traveler

Jeff Reifman, a recent traveler to Antarctica, is a technologist in Seattle. Click here to view Jeff’s Antarctica photo album. Monday, 6 Jan 2003 SEATTLE, Wash. Somehow I knew the Antarctic would be unique and amazing — and it was, despite the 15,000 pounds of C02 emissions created by my journey there and back. Paradise Harbor on […]