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War Crimes

War can be hell on the environment, but in the case of Afghanistan, no one knows just how hellish. Under the auspices of the United Nations, five teams of foreign and local scientists are examining the impact of almost 30 years of fighting on the country’s natural resources. By December, the teams hope to identify […]

Sunny Delight?

No, you wouldn’t be on another planet if you saw this billboard: “Sun, 93,000,000 miles. Solar-powered station, the Bronx.” You’d be in Times Square, Manhattan, looking up at an advertisement for a BP filling station. However, don’t be thinking victory is at hand for enviros. The station doesn’t power up cars on rays from the […]

And other words from readers

  Re: Better Living Through French Fries Dear Editor: This is a great story and I’m glad that more folks will be educated about biodiesel, but you missed an even better point. There is another alternative to processed biodiesel: straight vegetable oil. No need to add lye or methanol or anything else. Just filter and […]

Mushroom Cloud

“There are practically no cases of radioactive watermelons this year,” was the triumphant announcement of Andrei Buyanov, one of Moscow’s corps of atomic food inspectors. Unfortunately for Muscovites, there were plenty of other radioactive fruits and vegetables. Moscow is 415 miles from Chernobyl, where an atomic reactor blew up in 1986; food found in the […]

Ceci N’est Pas Une Citizens Group

U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton has nixed the idea of a citizens panel to oversee the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, to the dismay of many environmentalists. Green groups and oil company watchdogs have called for the creation of such a group, similar to the citizens councils mandated by Congress after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, […]

Industry, Agency Say Nuke Plants Are Safe From Terrorism

One year after the tragedies of Sept. 11, how safe is the U.S. from terrorist strikes against its water supply and nuclear power facilities? Quite safe, according to industry and government studies commissioned in the wake of last year’s attacks. The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group, found that a Boeing 757 would not be […]

Haze Reaches Record Level in Hong Kong

While a metaphorical cloud shrouds New York City today, an all-too-real one is suffocating the city of Hong Kong, where pollution levels have set record highs this week, obscuring skyscrapers and prompting officials to warn people to stay indoors. Earlier this week, smog levels reached a record 185 on an air pollution index where any […]

U.N. Creates Watchdog Effort in Lieu of Future Summits

In what seemed like a tacit acknowledgment of the failure of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which ended last week, the United Nations has announced that it will not plan any more summits on the environment and development until governments have taken serious steps toward meeting the goals for progress established at Johannesburg and […]

Scientists Discuss How to Reduce Mercury Use Around Globe

Scientists from around the world are meeting this week in Geneva, Switzerland, at a conference sponsored by the U.N. Environment Programme, to discuss ways to cut back on global mercury use. For decades, the toxic substance has been used in lamps, batteries, electrical equipment, thermometers, dental fillings, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and even beauty products. Gulp! Mercury […]

The Minnow Would Be Lost

The fate of the silvery minnow remains up in the air after a federal judge postponed a decision yesterday in a controversial water-rights case, saying he wanted to review information about the endangered species’ habitat. For those of you who haven’t been following the story, a coalition of environmental groups has asked the judge to […]