Uncategorized

Barns and Ignoble

“Factory farms” — huge, mechanized corporate operations — are a far cry from the American pastoral image (that little red barn on the hill). But such farms are becoming ever more common, and not just in the Midwest. In Pennsylvania, for example, large-scale hog farms have doubled in the last decade, provoking environmental, agricultural, and […]

Trawl in a Day’s Work

Bottom trawling, or dragging nets along the ocean floor to catch fish, is so devastating to the marine environment that the practice should be banned from fragile areas, according to a U.S. National Academy of Sciences report released yesterday. The report, which was requested by the National Marine Fisheries Service, recommended protecting areas along the […]

I’ll Tell You What I Want, What I Really Really Want

Jennifer Ferenstein, president of the Sierra Club, has got a new plan for one of the nation’s oldest and most politically influential environmental groups. Ferenstein wants the Sierra Club to emphasize not just what it’s against (e.g, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, air pollution, global warming) but also what it supports (restoring wild […]

Graze Under Pressure

Erosion, salinization, urbanization, and unsustainable agricultural practices are causing desertification in many parts of the planet, according to delegates at a weekend conference in Egypt. Desertification is the process by which the water and nutrients needed to sustain diverse plant and animal life are drained from the soil. British scientist Brian Johnson blamed the problem […]

For Lorne

Canada’s federal government has prepared a report to counter opponents’ forecasts that enacting the Kyoto Protocol would devastate the country’s economy. The report by Environment Canada, the country’s environmental agency, says industry claims that Kyoto could cost the country as much as $19-25 billion and as many as 450,000 jobs are bunk. The agency says […]

Beet It

Some genetically modified crops are likely to crossbreed with organic crops or wild plants, jeopardizing farms that are certified as GM-free, according to a European Union study. The Europe Environment Agency found that rapeseed, sugar beet, and maize had a medium to high probability of transferring genetic materials, while potatoes, wheat, and barley were unlikely […]

Lent Ills

In the midst of Lent, the conservation group Wildcoast is asking Pope John Paul II to declare that sea turtles are meat, not fish. The group, which focuses on the protecting coastal resources in California and Baja California, says sea turtle populations are hit especially hard during Lent because many Catholics give up meat for […]

Costas Christ, Conservation International

Costas Christ is the senior director for ecotourism at Conservation International, a U.S.-based NGO working in 30 countries with a mission to conserve global biodiversity and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. He is also the chair of the board of directors of the International Ecotourism Society. Monday, 18 […]

Don’t Drink the Water

Drug Bust

A federal survey that found trace levels of medications in rivers and streams throughout the U.S. could prompt the Food and Drug Administration to revitalize its environmental investigations into drug safety. The first-of-its-kind survey of more than 100 waterways found low levels of dozens of antibiotics, hormones, painkillers, cough suppressants, disinfectants, and other products excreted […]