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Wherefore Art Thou Romero?
There’s death, taxes and now — garbage. So says California state Sen. Gloria Romero (D), who is concerned about the state’s increasingly inescapable waste problem. California’s population is expected to reach 40 million by the end of the decade, and Romero and others see a waste management nightmare in the combination of a mushrooming poor […]
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Dam Nation
The Amazon Basin could become home to the world’s third-largest dam if Brazil continues with plans to build a hydroelectric plant to stave off the nation’s energy crisis. Energy consumption in Brazil is growing by 5.3 percent annually, a rate that far outstrips supply increases. The energy shortage was compounded this year by a severe […]
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Norton: Here's a Whoops
An on-going battle over proposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge took an ugly turn late last week when news surfaced that Interior Secretary Gale Norton had distorted government data about the impact of drilling on caribou populations. In a July letter to the Senate committee that had requested the data, Norton left […]
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Ann Hedreen, Environmental Media Services Northwest
Ann Hedreen is a program director with Environmental Media Services Northwest in Seattle, a nonprofit communications clearinghouse dedicated to expanding and improving the quality of environmental coverage by the news media. She is also a writer, filmmaker, and co-owner with her husband of White Noise Productions, specializing in documentary and nonprofit films. Monday, 22 Oct […]
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Steeling Home
Anglers in north-central Washington state could be allowed to fish for endangered steelhead for the first time in four years if the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has its way. More than 32,000 steelhead are expected to swim up the Columbia River this year, the largest run since 1986. State wildlife officials would like […]
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Land Sakes!
The Bush administration yesterday endorsed an $82 billion overhaul of farming legislation that would phase out subsidies and double conservation spending. The plan, proposed by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), would shift federal benefits away from big grain and cotton growers and toward fruit, vegetable, and livestock farms, as well as land-preservation efforts. Earlier this month, […]
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Whoop-de-do
Folks who happened to be scanning the skies in central Wisconsin yesterday were witness to a strange sight, as people in bird costumes flying ultra-light aircraft led a flock of nine whooping cranes on the first leg of a 1,250-mile migration. The flight was part of an experiment to teach the extremely rare birds to […]
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The Bt Goes On
The U.S. EPA yesterday approved for another seven years the use of a controversial bio-engineered corn that produces its own pesticide. Researchers concluded that Bt corn poses no environmental or human health risks, but environmentalists and consumer-advocacy groups have expressed fears that the long-term health effects are unknown and that the crop will lead to […]
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Parknost
Dormant plans for an international park spanning the Bering Strait have been revived, thanks to a gung-ho new governor in the Russian Far East. Under the last governor of Chukotka, western tourists and researchers got the cold shoulder, but Gov. Roman Abramovich is welcoming joint programs with Alaska, including research, conservation, tourism, and economic ventures. […]
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The Big Chill
Snowmobiles are getting a chilly reception in Yellowstone National Park, with more than 80 percent of public comments supporting the Clinton administration’s plan for phasing out the noisy, polluting vehicles. Last year, the National Park Service decided to eliminate snowmobiles in the park, beginning with a 50 percent reduction by the winter of 2002-03 and […]
