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Not Breathing Easy

As the one-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon nears, some people are trying to assess the impact of the tragedy on the environment. In New York Harbor, biologists are studying the effects on aquatic life of the smoke and building fragments that drifted into the Hudson River. The […]

Just Say Nano?

Nanotechnology — the rapidly evolving science of manipulating materials at the molecular level — holds the promise of tiny computers, super-strong bridges, ultra-light airplanes, and cures for cancer. But will it be an environmental boon or bane? Some fear that nanotechnology could create contaminants whose tiny size would make them nearly impossible to cleanse from […]

Another Nile in the Coffin

West Nile virus has been making headlines all summer, but the human toll of the disease is far smaller than its impact on bird species. Since West Nile was first spotted in a crow three years ago, at least 111 species have been hit, including the bald eagle and the endangered Mississippi sandhill crane. The […]

Umbra on forest fires

Dear Umbra, My husband says that Rush is blaming the Sierra Club for the huge forest fires raging in Colorado and Arizona. He says that because environmentalists oppose logging, the forest is too full of fuel. I told him that as far as I know, the Sierra Club is really trying to prevent logging in […]

Your Name Is Smud

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s internationally known solar power program is in shambles, having exceeded its budget and lost its long-term leader. The utility district had planned to spend $3.2 million in 2002 to help homeowners, businesses, government offices, and nonprofits install photovoltaic panels, to reach a goal of producing an additional 2 megawatts of […]

Nothing Doing

After 10 days of bargaining, debate, protests, speeches, presentations, negotiations, renegotiations, and etcetera, the World Summit on Sustainable Development is over. What remains behind is a 70-page non-binding plan and a burning question: Was anything achieved? Well — the plan does include a relatively strong stance on improving sanitation and protecting fish stocks, leading one […]

Cleveland Greens?

Cleveland, Ohio — a city that earned ecological infamy when the Cuyahoga River caught on fire in 1969 — is hoping to make environmental and automotive history by becoming home to the nation’s first public hydrogen fueling station. The station, which will open off the Ohio Turnpike in about two years, is one of four […]

Like a Virgin

In better forestry news, a heretofore-unknown pocket of virgin forest has been discovered in Massachusetts and is believed to be the largest in the state. The area, which somehow escaped more than three centuries of logging and development, consists of up to 1,000 acres on the 2,608-foot Mount Everett, near the Connecticut and New York […]

Rhode Island Lead

Rhode Island has taken eight paint manufacturers to court in a first-ever attempt by a state to hold companies accountable for decades of child lead poisoning. Rhode Island, which has one of the highest rates of such poisoning in the country, is claiming the manufacturers created a public nuisance by selling the paint. The paint […]

Thomas Brendler, National Network of Forest Practitioners

Thomas Brendler coordinates the National Network of Forest Practitioners, a grassroots alliance of ruralpeople advocating for environmental protection and social justice in the woods. He is a fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program. Tuesday, 3 Sep 2002 JOHANNESBURG, South Africa The poet John Ashbery wrote that all stories begin in the middle. So here I […]